Ontario’s civilian police oversight agency has ruled there is no basis for criminal charges against an Ottawa Police Service officer who shot a man involved in a hostage-taking in the city’s west end in July.
A report posted Oct. 30 by the Special Investigations Unit said its director, Joseph Martino, was satisfied that the officer had fired his weapon to protect himself from attack by the 42-year-old man, who had grabbed the officer in a bear hug.
“Not knowing whether the man was still in possession of the knife or the firearm he claimed to have, any reasonable person in the circumstances would have feared for their life and taken steps to defend themselves,” the report said.
The man was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a fracture of the tibia is his right leg after being struck by a bullet from the officer’s rifle.
The incident on July 2 occurred after police officers responded to a report of a woman being held hostage in the area of Old Second Line and Old Carp roads.
Following hours of negotiations, tactical officers deployed distraction devices and stormed the upstairs bedroom, where the woman was being held at knifepoint, the report said. The man then grabbed an officer in a bear hug around the upper legs and the officer aimed his C8 rifle downward and fired twice, striking the man once in the lower right leg. There was a struggle and the man was struck several times by multiple officers before being handcuffed.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials, including municipal police officers, that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
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