29-07-2025
SIU clears officer of non-lethal firearm shooting
The logo of the Ontario Special Investigations Unit is pictured in Toronto on Friday, April 12, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has determined that an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) did not commit a criminal offence when he shot a non-lethal firearm at a man in April.
The SIU report, Director Joseph Martino said he 'found no reasonable grounds' to believe the officer was out of line when he shot the 60-year-old man who had been setting houses on fire in Gravenhurst April 4.
The man was not injured.
OPP officers were dispatched to a residential area following calls to police from several homeowners reporting the man set fire to a number of residences.
The officer, having reason to believe the man had a knife, shot the man with an Anti-riot Weapon Enfield (ARWEN) during his arrest.
Martino found the use of the ARWEN made sense when the man refused to peacefully surrender and began to close the distance with the officers.
