SIU clears OPP in death of a 40-year-old man near Apsley last year

The province’s Special Investigations Unit has cleared OPP officers of any wrongdoing in the death of a 40-year-old man near Apsley last fall.

The incident happened on the morning of Nov. 1, 2018, when officers received a call regarding a possible abduction that had occurred in Oshawa.

A short time later, OPP officers on scene allegedly approached a vehicle believed to be involved in the abduction as it turned on to Tucker Road off Highway 28. The man inside the vehicle sustained a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The SIU director, Tony Loparco, says the incident was of a man with mental-health issues, acting irrationally, which led to police being called.

The investigation determined that within three minutes of police parking behind him on Tucker Road, he told the woman who he had kidnapped that he knew he could not go back to jail.

According to the investigation, that’s when he shot himself, despite the efforts of the woman who tried to stop him.