The province's police oversight agency has cleared a Toronto police officer in the death of a man who was fatally shot during an investigation in Simcoe last fall.
According to the Special Investigations Unit, the incident happened shortly after noon on November 3, 2021. Officers with the Toronto Police Service Firearms Enforcement Unit travelled to a property on Port Ryerse Road to conduct a search warrant as part of a firearms-trafficking investigation.
In the report, the SIU says when officers arrived, two uniformed policemen entered a workshop on the property through an open door. The officers then identified themselves to two men located inside before ordering them to raise their hands. One of the men complied with the command. However, the owner, identified by the SIU as 70-year-old Rodger Kotanko, allegedly did not, despite several commands.
Police then claim Kotanko reached towards a workbench, grabbed a firearm and pointed it at the officers. The officers reportedly demanded Kotanko to drop the weapon, and when he did not comply, one of the officers shot him four times.
Officers performed first aid care to Kotanko until paramedics arrived. He was then taken to hospital where he died from his wounds.
"For reasons unknown, Mr. Kotanko ignored the officers’ direction to raise his hands, picked up a firearm, refused to drop it and pointed the gun at the officers," said SIU Director Joseph Martino.
Investigators later determined that the firearm Kotanko picked up, was not in a condition to be fired at the time.
"I am unable to fault the officer for choosing to meet a reasonably apprehended threat of imminent and lethal force with a resort to lethal force of his own," added Martino. "In the result, there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the force used by the subject officer was not legally justified."
A full version of the director's report and incident narrative can be found on the SIU's website.
