The province’s police watchdog has cleared an officer with the London Police Service of any wrongdoing in connection with a 12-hour standoff in March, but the report into the incident is shedding new light on what happened the night Joel A. Cameron, 41, died.
Cameron was found in a pool of blood in a hallway of an apartment building at 621 Kipps Lane on March 11.
Adrian Neil Campbell, 42, faces one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with the incident. Two officers suffered gunshot wounds during the standoff.
The Special Investigations Unit was called in because the accused was discovered to have a broken forearm bone after his arrest. However, SIU director Joseph Martino suggested that it is unclear whether the injury was sustained during the arrest itself.
Regardless, Martino wrote that “whether or not the Complainant’s injury was incurred in the altercation that marked his arrest,” there is no evidence to suggest the officer acted outside the limits of criminal law.
According to the report, the complainant called police, “seeking the removal of an inebriated male” just before 4:30 a.m. March 11. The SIU says he called back soon after to cancel the request.
At around 5:15 a.m., police were called about someone lying unconscious with blood around them in the hallway of an apartment. The SIU report says the man who was found unresponsive with stab wounds was the same man who the complainant had called police about an hour earlier, identified in the report as “Civilian #1.”
When police arrived at the apartment, there were two men present. One exited the apartment but the complainant refused, the SIU says, thus beginning what would be a standoff that lasted at least 12 hours.
The SIU says the suspect’s social media posts during the standoff “depicted him with a firearm.”
Just after 7:30 p.m., officers forced open the bedroom door. The complainant fired at officers with a shotgun, the SIU writes, striking one officer in the eye and one in the hand, left temple and right forearm. The team withdrew and the injured officers were taken to hospital.
Shortly after 8 p.m., the team used tear gas and the complainant “indicated that he wished to surrender.” He “complied with police commands” to drop the shotgun and walk backward to the front door of the apartment. Once he reached the door, he was grabbed by police and taken to the floor when the officer whose actions were at the centre of the report kneed and punched him.
A shotgun was found in the closet after the suspect was arrested, the SIU said.
The following day, the suspect complained of pain in his wrist and jaw and was taken to Victoria Hospital where he was diagnosed with a crack to his left ulna bone. The London Police Service then reported the incident to the SIU on March 13.