Ontario’s police watchdog has been called in to investigate after a Niagara region police officer was critically injured by gunfire — allegedly after an altercation with a fellow cop.
The Special Investigations Unit says two Niagara Regional Police officers were in the town of Pelham, southwest of St. Catharines, to investigate a vehicle collision that had occurred days prior.
“Around noon, there was an interaction between two of the officers and one of the officers was struck by a gunshot,” Monica Hudon, spokesperson for the SIU, told reporters on Thursday evening.
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A 52-year-old officer was transported to a local hospital but was then airlifted to Hamilton General Hospital in critical condition.
Niagara police said in a brief statement earlier on Thursday that there had been “an incident” involving its members in which an officer was injured in Pelham.
The police force did not provide details on what had occured due to the police watchdog investigation.
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Neighbours told Global News that police were in the area for several hours prior to the shooting, and shots were fired during a fight between two officers.
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The SIU investigates reports of injury, death or allegations of sexual assault involving police.
The agency said it has assigned eight investigators and three forensic investigators to the case. They are appealing to the public to come forward with information and video.
WATCH: SIU has investigated past cases of officer being injured by another officer discharging their weapon
– With files from Kamil Karamali and Jeremy Cohn
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