Ontario’s police watchdog says a man has died nearly a week after being shot by provincial police in an incident that also left his one-year-old son dead in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Ont.
The Special Investigations Unit says the 33-year-old man died in hospital on Wednesday night.
His name was not released. A post-mortem is scheduled for Friday morning in Toronto, the SIU said.
The agency has said on the morning of Nov. 26, three police officers opened fire on the man after his pickup truck crashed into a cruiser on Pigeon Lake Road, just east of Lindsay. The incident injured a City of Kawartha Lakes OPP officer who was laying down a spike belt, the SIU said. The officer remains in hospital in stable condition.
It says the man was injured and his one-year-old son was found dead of a gunshot wound in the back seat of his pickup truck.
His post-mortem took place on Saturday, and the SIU is awaiting this report.
Peterborough County OPP had been investigating an alleged kidnapping involving a firearm at the time from a residence in the neighbouring Municipality of Trent Lakes.
In a statement, the Ontario Provincial Police Association (OPPA) asks that people wait for the “facts” of the SIU’s investigation and seek mental health support, if required.
“We are all devastated when a child tragically dies,” a statement reads. “We continue to support our members affected by an incident that occurred near Lindsay, Ontario on November 26, 2020 involving the death of a child. It is important to wait for the facts of the final investigation. We urge anyone from the public or our members to reach out for professional mental health supports.”
In addition to the three police-issued guns, the SIU says investigators found a fourth firearm at the scene. The Centre of Forensic Sciences is in possession of the man’s pickup truck and a handgun found in the truck for examination, the SIU notes.
Thirteen OPP officers were designated as witness officers, the SIU reports. Ten of the witness officers have been interviewed by SIU investigators, and the remaining three will be interviewed in the coming days.
Anyone who may have information about this investigation is asked to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529. The SIU is also urging anyone who may have any video evidence related to this incident to upload that video through the SIU website.
— With files from Global News Peterborough