The province's police oversight agency has cleared of the Ontario Provincial Police of any wrongdoing after officers responded to the scene of a suicide north of Woodstock.
The Special Investigations Unit said on April 23, 2018, a 54-year-old man called 911 at around 12:38 a.m. to report that he intended to kill himself. He gave his location at the intersection at Oxford County Road 22 and Oxford County Road 29, and said he was in his vehicle.
After arriving at the scene at around 1 a.m., officers attempted to communicate with the man by calling and texting his cellphone. Officers also tried to shine light into the man's vehicle and to use a ditch as cover to get closer to the vehicle. However, officers were unable to see inside the vehicle.
The OPP's Tactical Rescue Unit was called in at around 2 a.m. and at 3:45 a.m. officers approached the man's location in an armoured vehicle. The man was discovered by police with a gunshot wound to his head and a firearm in his hands. The SIU said suicide notes and a do not resuscitate form were also located in the vehicle.
"The [subject officer] was the assigned supervisor that night and thought it was unsafe to approach the complainant’s vehicle," said SIU Director Tony Loparco. "This decision meant that around three hours passed from the time the officers arrived on the scene to the time the complainant’s body was found. I believe this decision was absolutely reasonable in the circumstances, which included an uncommunicative person in distress who was believed to have a firearm."
Loparco added that the man is believed to have shot himself before officers arrived.
The SIU is a civilian agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
