Officer cleared of wrongdoing in Kitchener Hwy. 401 shooting: SIU
Posted Oct 25, 2025 07:11:43 AM.
Last Updated Oct 27, 2025 11:23:53 AM.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) cleared an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer of any criminal wrongdoing in an incident last year when a suspect was shot during a “high-risk” takedown.
The situation took place on Nov. 29, 2024. OPP officers were called regarding a man who was seen jumping out of a moving pick-up truck following an argument between its occupants. That man would get back into the vehicle before it continued driving.
Police were able to locate the vehicle in question, found driving eastbound on Highway 401 toward Kitchener.
“Based on the circumstances, the decision was made to execute a ‘high-risk takedown, ‘” the SIU said in a statement. “Two officers brought their vehicles to a stop at an angle in front of the driver and passenger side front corners of the pick-up truck, while two other officers positioned their cruisers behind the truck.”
It said that officers in those two front cruisers exited their vehicles with guns drawn. One of the officers “discharged his firearm” in the direction of the 46-year-old male driver, striking the man’s arm in the process.
Both the driver and the occupant of the vehicle were taken to hospital.
The SIU launched an investigation into any potential criminal offences committed during the incident, as is customary for any conduct that results in death, serious injury, assault or discharge of a firearm.
“I am unable to reasonably conclude with any confidence that the officer did not fire his gun to defend himself from a reasonably apprehended threat of gunfire from the Complainant,” SIU Director Joseph Martino said in his report. “The SO (subject officer) was wrong in his assessment, but mistakes of fact will not deprive an officer of the self-defence justification if the mistake was a reasonable one to have been made in the circumstances.”
Martino concluded there are no reasonable grounds to pursue criminal charges against the officer.
The Director’s full report on the incident can be found on the SIU website.
