WATCH ABOVE: The province’s police watchdog is investigating after a fire broke out at a home in near Grimsby, Ont. A 73-year-old woman and 50-year-old man died and two police officers were injured. Lama Nicolas has more on what neighbours witnessed.
TORONTO – The province’s police watchdog is investigating after two people were killed and two police officers seriously injured during what authorities are calling an “interaction” at a home near Grimsby, Ont. late Sunday night.
Police say both officers were injured after arriving at a residence at 3137 Epp St.in Lincoln around 8:35 p.m.
Const. Philip Gavin of the Niagara Regional Police said one officer was taken by air ambulance to a hospital outside the region, while the other officer was treated locally. He could not comment on the extent of their injuries.
Police say there was a fire at the residence shortly after the interaction with the officers and a 73-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man were found dead. He added that their identities have not been released.
Neighbours reported hearing a loud explosion moments after more police arrived at the home on Sunday night.
“Everything was calm but as soon as they got closer to the house it was chaos. The old man that was inside the house was yelling out ‘Everybody get out of here,'” said neighbour Frank Perrone, adding that he saw an officer sustain injuries from the fire.
“You could see that the [officer’s] pant legs from the back were sort of torn apart.”
Bernice Bovaird, another nearby resident, said that she had heard reports that the officer was “very badly burned” and that she was “sorry that it had to come to this, it’s just too bad.”
Neighbour Jake Vedder added that this was the first such incident the neighbourhood had experienced.
“We’ve never seen anything like that,” he said. “All the police in the area, and then the ambulance, it’s sad see anybody get hurt.”
The fire was quickly extinguished by the Lincoln Fire Department.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths are under investigation.
The Special Investigations Unit is brought in when police are involved in incidents as a result of a death, serious injury or sexual assault.
With files from Lama Nicolas and Adam Miller
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