Ontario's law-enforcement watchdog agency has exonerated Windsor police following a fatal shooting this spring.
The original incident happened on the evening of May 22 on Thornbury Crescent. Windsor police officers responded to multiple 911 calls concerning a man chasing another man with a knife on Rose-Ville Garden Drive.
Police reported that the 35-year-old suspect had stabbed the victim before fleeing to the backyard of a nearby home. When officers approached him, the suspect ran at them, causing police to open fire.
The suspect was rushed to Windsor Regional Hospital, where he died from his injuries.
Joseph Martino, director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), concluded that the officers' use of force was "reasonable".
"Anything less than the immediate stopping power of a firearm would have increased the risk of grievous bodily harm or death coming to the officers," wrote Martino. "Nor can it realistically be said that withdrawal or retreat were options available to the officers to protect themselves. The complainant had to be contained in the interests of public safety. He was in the throes of a psychotic episode that had manifested itself in violence against a close friend and remained a threat to himself and others."
Martino thus concluded that officers were not criminally liable for the incident, and the file is now closed.
