Coroner’s inquest called into Wolfe St. police shooting
A coroner’s inquest has been called into the April 4, 2015 shooting death of a mentally ill 23-yearold man by a Peterborough police officer.
No date or location has been set yet for the inquest, called by Dr. Paul Dungey, regional supervising coroner for East Region, Kingston Office.
Cody Franklin Cole died after being shot by the officer, whom Mr. Cole had stabbed in the thigh with a knife following a confrontation.
His family has been seeking answers ever since.
The inquest will examine the circumstances surrounding the shooting death, according to a release from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.
The jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths, the release states.
The police shooting happened after police responded to a complaint at the George St. Tim Hortons location. Officers went to the coffee shop at about 11:30 p.m. to investigate reports of a disturbance and located a man on Wolfe St.
There was an interaction between the officer and the man, and the man was shot, according to the Special Investigations Unit. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The police officer, who was never named by the SIU or by city police, was taken to Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) with nonlife-threatening injuries. He later recovered and returned to work a few months later, city police Chief Murray Rodd said at the time.
The SIU concluded in December 2015 that the shooting was legally justified.
“I am satisfied that the subject officer was justified in using lethal force. He was acting in lawful execution of his duties when he approached the man,” SIU director Tony Loparco stated in a release at the time.
The pathologist determined the cause of death to be a single gunshot wound to the head.
The SIU issued made its decision after six investigators and three forensic investigators looked into the circumstances of the man’s death.
Five officers and 11 civilians who witnessed the chain of events were interviewed.
Investigators also reviewed surveillance video at a nearby home and listening to recordings of police communications.
In the statement SIU released at the time, it outlined the chain of events on April 4, 2015:
• The 23-year-old man was at the Tim Hortons at 157 George Street when he was involved in a confrontation with several young women who accosted the man because they believed the man had assaulted one of their friends a few nights earlier. The man left the coffee shop and headed north on George St.
• The women followed the man, continuing their attempts to engage him, and two males, who were in a vehicle and who were friends with the women, became involved and began to follow the man.
• At one point, the man turned towards the women and brandished two large knives.
• The 23-year-old man then walked west on Sherbrooke Street.
• As the man approached Park Place North, one of the young women attempted to disarm him. He threw her off and continued walking west away from the women.
• One of the young women called 911.
• Not long after, the 23-year-old man tried to enter a Sherbrooke St. residence where he rented a room but he did not have a key.
• He then walked south through the backyards, ended up on Wolfe St., and headed east. The two men in the car continued to follow the man along Wolfe Street.
• An officer who was parked at the east end of Wolfe Street (at Park Place) saw the two men in the car flashing their headlights and then recognized the man from a description given by the dispatcher and saw a knife in one of his hands.
• The officer exited his cruiser, drew his firearm, and shouted at the man to drop the knife.
• As the man passed the officer, the officer tried to pull the man to the ground. The 23-year-old spun around and stabbed the officer in the thigh. The officer fired a single shot that proved fatal.
“At that point, the officer had common law and Criminal Code duties to protect public safety by disarming the man and placing him under address. The officer attempted to accomplish these tasks by verbally demanding the man stop and drop the knife. When that failed, the officer tries to take the man to the ground by grabbing him. This had grave consequences for both men,” Loparco stated in the ruling.
No more than two seconds passed between when the man stabbed the officer and the officer pulled the trigger, according to surveillance footage reviewed by SIU.
With the man already having used the knife twice that night, and still armed, the officer only had moments to react as his boot filled with blood. He feared losing consciousness, leaving the man to possibly continue his assault or attack others in the neighbourhood, the release stated.
“Having been injured and left with no other viable option, I am satisfied that the shooting in question was reasonably necessary and therefore legally justified,” stated Loparco.
Had the man not been followed when he left Tim Hortons, the night might have ended differently, he stated.
“But ultimately, he set in motion a chain of events that led to his death.”