Niagara Parks Police officer cleared in February shooting death at Rainbow Bridge

A Niagara Parks Police constable has been cleared by Ontario’s police watchdog of any wrongdoing in the late February death of a man in Niagara Falls.

In a decision released Monday night, Special Investigations Unit director Joseph Martino said the shooting by a subject officer (SO) “constituted reasonable force.”

“On this record, it is clear that the complainant was intent on doing harm to the officers with the knife, and that the SO discharged his weapon in self-defence, ” Martino said in his report.

The investigation was tied to a Feb. 28 encounter around 2 p.m. between two Niagara Parks Police officers and a man reported to be harassing pedestrians under the Rainbow Bridge, near River Road and Hiram Street.

The SIU said the man discharged bear spray at an officer and brandished a knife after attempts by the Niagara Parks Police Service and an employee of the Canadian Mental Health Association – Niagara to get the 49-year-old to accept help.

After drawing a firearm and yelling “drop the knife,” the SO would fire four rounds at the man who was headed towards the officer, according to Martino’s report.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Two officers were sent to the hospital to be treated for injuries.

An autopsy would reveal the man’s death was attributable to gunshot wounds to the torso.

Martino closed the file saying there was “no basis for proceeding with criminal charges.”

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