DAN CEARNS, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, for The Standard
KAWARTHA LAKES: An investigation, into a shootout in Kawartha Lakes which led to a one-year-old boy’s death and his 33-year-old father’s actions, has appeared to have stalled.
A recent press release from Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), an oversight body which looks into actions of police officers who could have caused injury or death to a person, stated, the investigation “is currently in a holding pattern.” The release added, the SIU is “awaiting the results of specialized, out-of-country forensic testing of some of the ballistic evidence by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
The incident occurred in late November. An earlier SIU release explained the incident occurred when “the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) was made aware a father had abducted his son from the Municipality of Trent Lakes.”
Officers then located “a pickup truck, in the City of Kawartha Lakes, on Sturgeon Road.”
“On Pigeon Lake Road, the truck became involved in a collision with an OPP cruiser and a civilian vehicle. At that time, an OPP officer was standing outside of the cruiser, and he sustained serious injuries. An interaction ensued, between the 33-year-old vehicle driver and officers, and three officers discharged their firearms. The man was struck and airlifted to the hospital in grave condition. Inside the pickup truck was a one-year-old boy. He had sustained a gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased at the scene,” read the SIU press release.