The province’s police watchdog has cleared a London police officer in connection with the death of a 24-year-old man in the city’s Greenway Park in February, saying the man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Special Investigations Unit released its report into the Feb. 22 incident on Wednesday.
Officers had been called to the park, located along the Thames River opposite the Wonderland Road bridge, around 10:30 a.m. after receiving a call from a man who told them he was planning to die by suicide.
The man told police dispatch over the phone that “he could not take it anymore” and made it clear he had no intention of harming anyone else, according to the SIU.
At the scene, police located the man sitting on a bench on a wooden observation deck overlooking the river, holding a handgun, the SIU says.
Several officers attended, including a trained negotiator with the London police Emergency Response Unit who reached the man on his phone, and for about 50 minutes, attempted to dissuade him from harming himself, the SIU says.
The subject officer at the centre of the SIU probe, who arrived at the scene around 11 a.m., oversaw the operation.
According to the SIU, although the man was “patient and calm” to the negotiator, he was “insistent that he would end his life and made it clear that he would shoot himself if officers approached.”
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Just after 11:30 a.m., the man shot himself in the head, the SIU says.
“Believing that the complainant was obviously deceased, the initial paramedics left the scene. However, paramedics were asked to re-attend shortly thereafter when it appeared to the officers that he had a pulse,” the SIU report states.
The man was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead the following day.
According to the SIU, officers located a suicide note at the man’s home and 20 firearms registered to him.
SIU investigators attending the scene located a handgun, a buck knife, a hollow point cartridge, a cellphone, an empty whisky bottle, and a glass tumbler near the bench, along with other items including a lighter, baseball hat, and a mitt.
In their investigation, the SIU says the subject officer declined to be interviewed, as is her legal right, but her notes were reviewed.
Five witness offers were interviewed, while the notes of 11 other witness officers were reviewed.
In his decision, SIU Director Joseph Martino said that based on the evidence, there was no reasonable grounds to believe the subject offer committed a criminal offence in relation to the man’s death, in particular, criminal negligence causing death.
“The offence is reserved for negligent conduct that exhibits a wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other, and results in death,” Martino writes.
“Simple negligence will not suffice to ground liability. Rather, what is required is a marked and substantial departure from the level of care that a reasonable person would have observed in the circumstances.”
According to Martino, in this particular case, the issue would be whether the subject officer, who at the time was overseeing the operation, fell short in her duties, and whether that caused or contributed to the man’s death, “and were sufficiently egregious as to attract criminal sanction.”
“In my view, there is no evidence to reasonably establish that the (subject officer was derelict in how she conducted herself,” Martino writes.
“Though the complainant was able to make good on his intentions, that was through no fault of the involved officers.”
The full SIU report, and Martino’s decision, can be read here.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.
The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, Depression Hurts and Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 all offer ways of getting help if you, or someone you know, may be suffering from mental health issues.
Please reach out for help if you or someone you know is in crisis: contact the Canadian Suicide Support line at 1-833-456-4566 or find a call centre near you.
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