SIU finds police gunfire killed one-year-old in Kawartha Lakes

DAN CEARNS, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, for The Standard

KAWARTHA LAKES: Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has determined Ontario Provincial Police gunfire was the cause of the death of a one-year-old, in an incident in Kawartha Lakes, in late November.

“Upon receipt and review of additional forensic evidence in this case, including the results of the postmortem examination performed on a child, and reports, prepared by the Centre of Forensic Sciences, of analyses conducted with respect to: bloodstains in the pickup truck, the trajectory of shots that struck the truck, and firearms, cartridge cases and projectiles, the SIU can today confirm the child’s death, on November 26th, 2020 in Kawartha Lakes, was the result of being shot by police,” read an SIU press release, sent out on Thursday, February 11th.

The press release added, during that incident, “the one-year-old boy died in the course of an interaction between the boy’s 33-year-old father and Ontario Provincial Police officers.”

An earlier SIU release explained the late November incident occurred when “the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) [were] made aware that 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.

The father later died of his injuries in a hospital. The SIU’s investigation is still listed as ongoing.