The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has concluded its investigation into an incident out of Kawartha Lakes that resulted in a 33-year-old father and one-year-old son shot and killed following an interaction with officers.
On Thursday, the SIU confirmed the boy was shot by a police officer after three subject officers discharged their weapons during the confrontation with the father.
“Upon receipt and review of additional forensic evidence in this case, including the results of the postmortem examination performed on a child, and reports prepared by the Centre of Forensic Sciences of analyses conducted with respect to bloodstains in the pickup truck, the trajectory of shots that struck the truck, and firearms, cartridge cases, and projectiles, the SIU can today confirm that the child’s death on November 26, 2020, in Kawartha Lakes was the result of being shot by police,” they said in a statement.
On Nov. 26, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received reports that a father had abducted his son just before 9 a.m. that morning.
Officers discovered a vehicle of interest a short time later and attempted to stop the pickup truck.
A police chase ensued and an OPP cruiser collided with the suspect vehicle on Pigeon Lake Road in Kawartha Lakes. An OPP officer was standing outside the police cruiser when the collision took place and suffered serious injuries.
An altercation then occurred between the father and the officers.
The 33-year-old was taken to hospital with serious injuries. He later died in hospital.
The one-year-old boy, who was in the backseat of the vehicle, was fatally shot and pronounced dead at the scene.
The SIU says two police-issued rifles and one police-issued pistol were collected from the scene and that the three officers who discharged their firearms were designated as a result. A pistol was also located in the pickup truck.
The four firearms as well as a number of cartridge cases are under examination at the Centre of Forensic Sciences (CFS).
