Man dies after Peel police shooting at traffic stop

Ontario’s police watchdog says it is investigating a fatal police shooting in Brampton during a traffic stop.

The Special Investigations Unit says a man died in hospital after a Peel Region police officer fired his weapon during the incident (on Queen Street east of Kennedy Road) just after 10 p.m. Wednesday.

The SIU says Peel Region police reported that officers in a marked cruiser stopped a vehicle for in- vestigation, and that there was an “interaction” between one of the occupants and the police before an officer “discharged his firearm.”

The name and age of the male has not been released.

The Special Investigations Unit, which probes all police-related incidents involving death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault, says it has assigned six investigators and three forensic investigators to the case.

Peel Region police say none of its officers were injured in the incident.

Const. Lilly Fitzpatrick says shortly after stopping a vehicle, the officer called for another unit, “but did not ask for a rush on that unit.”

But not long after that request was made, said Const. Fitzpatrick, the officer activated an emergency button on his portable radio.

“Shortly after that emergency button went off, we started to receive calls of reports of shots fired,” she told CP24.

Const. Fitzpatrick explained that portable police radios and radios inside cruisers are equipped with an emergency assist button.

She said it is activated when an officer “needs assistance immediately and either can’t or doesn’t have time to access the portable radio.”

Const. Fitzpatrick did not say what prompted the officer to activate the button.