A Toronto police officer is facing a manslaughter charge in connection with a fatal shooting in the summer of 2025.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says members of the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) squad went to a hotel in Niagara Falls just after 11 a.m. on July 30, 2025, to arrest a 40-year-old man wanted on a Canada-wide warrant.
According to the SIU, there was an interaction, and one officer discharged his firearm, striking the man. He was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Following an investigation, Const. Andrew Lawson was charged with one count of manslaughter. He has been released on an undertaking with conditions and is scheduled to appear in a St. Catharines court on May 6, 2026, to answer the charge.
“As the matter is before the courts, and in consideration of the fair trial interests of the accused, the SIU will not provide further comment on the investigation,” SIU Director Joseph Martino said in a release.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officials that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
