A Chatham-Kent Police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Ontario Special Investigations Unit following an incident in Tilbury last September.
On September 5th, officers responded to a call about a man reportedly armed with guns, and found a 63-year-old man leaving his garage wielding a crowbar. Two officers used Tasers to try to subdue the suspect, who then allegedly dropped the crowbar and pulled an object from his jacket, pointing it at the officers. The SIU investigation found the object was a cordless screwdriver, not a gun.
One officer fired his own weapon four times and striking the accused twice, once in the right tricep and once in the right buttock, causing serious injuries.
SIU Director Joseph Martino says the officer’s use of lethal force was not unreasonable as he had reason to believe the man was pointing a firearm at another officer whose life was in imminent danger.