An OPP officer who was injured during a police-involved shooting last month in the City of Kawartha Lakes remains in stable condition, police say.
The Special Investigations Unit continues to investigate the Nov. 26 incident just east of Lindsay in which the SIU says a man was shot by police and a baby was found with a “fatal gunshot wound” inside the man’s pickup truck.
The SIU investigates any incidents involving police that resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
OPP allege a 33-year-old man had abducted his one-year-old son from a Trent Lakes home and a police pursuit ensued. The SIU says the man’s pickup truck struck a City of Kawartha Lakes OPP officer who was setting up a spike belt on Pigeon Lake Road at the time. The officer suffered serious injuries and was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.
The man who was shot by officers died in a Toronto-area hospital on Dec. 2, the SIU said. His name has not been released.
On Wednesday, OPP officers and Toronto Police Service officers lined up along the northbound lanes of Bayview Avenue outside Sunnybrook and clapped as the injured officer was taken away in a private ambulance.
The Ontario Provincial Police Association confirmed the officer was being transferred to hospital in Peterborough.
“We can confirm it is the officer injured in the Kawartha Lakes incident,” the association told Global News. “He is being transferred to a hospital closer to his home. He is recovering and in stable condition.”
In a Facebook post the officer — who Global News is not identifying — said he was amazed by the support.
“This was an amazing feeling. I’m still at a loss for words,” he said. “Thank you to everyone who came to support me and to all those who organized my run home.
The SIU continues to investigate the incident. Three OPP officers who discharged their firearms have been designated as subject officers. Thirteen OPP officers have been designated as witness officers.
Anyone who may have information about this investigation is asked to call the SIU’s lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529. Anyone with any video evidence is asked to upload it via the SIU’s website.