SIU clears Brantford police in shooting at Polish Hall in July

Ontario's police watchdog has cleared two Brantford police officers in the shooting of a 48-year-old man in a parking lot in the city last summer.

The man, who survived the shooting, was suffering from some type of mental health crisis" at the time and approached the officers with two knives that he refused to drop, said the Special Investigations Unit.

I accept that both (officers) genuinely and reasonably believed that shooting the complainant was necessary to protect (one of the officers) from loss of life or grievous bodily harm," concluded SIU director Joseph Martino.

The man called police on the morning of July 31, 2019, and claimed to have seen a suspicious vehicle parked in his driveway. He was feeling unwell and was waiting in his vehicle parked at the Polish Hall, on Pearl Street in Brantford.

At the hall the man's behaviour was peculiar, bizarre, and erratic," the SIU concluded.

He emerged from his vehicle with a knife and then pulled out a second knife. The officers repeatedly yelled for him to drop the knife, but he didn't, the SIU said. One of the officers attempted twice to stop the man with a conductive energy weapon (CEW) and also tried to hold the man down with his foot, but the man struck at the officer's food with a knife and got up.

When the man continued to approach, both officers fired their guns, the SIU said. After being shot, the man held a knife to his own throat but was subdued by officers.

The SIU is an arm's length agency that investigates incidents involving police in Ontario where someone is seriously hurt, killed or there is an allegation of sexual assault.

In this case investigators relied on interviews with officers, witnesses, CCTV footage that captured the incident and 911 recordings. The 48-year-old man was also interviewed, but had very limited memory of what happened.

As there is no basis to form reasonable grounds to believe that a criminal offence has been committed by either police officer, no charges will issue and this file is closed," Martino concluded.

Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com