Still no answers on how baby was shot
SIU still to interview officers who shot at father who abducted infant from Trent Lakes
The province’s Special Investigations Unit has still not interviewed the three OPP officers who fired on a pickup truck at a roadblock after a 33-year-old father abducted his 18-monthold son from a home in Trent Lakes in a Nov. 26 interaction that left the dad and the toddler dead of gunshot wounds.
The shooting happened on Pigeon Lake Road between Lilac Road and Settlers Road, east of Lindsay in the City of Kawartha Lakes, after the baby had been abducted from a home on Fire Route 111 in Trent Lakes.
“Understandably, there is a pressing public interest in this case, including how the child died and whether it was gunfire from the father or OPP officers that caused the death,” SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon stated Friday.
“The SIU is working to make these determinations. In so doing, it is imperative that best investigative practices be strictly adhered to, including the sequencing of various forensic examinations in the proper order.”
An OPP officer who had been outside his cruiser laying a spike belt was also seriously injured after the pickup truck struck the cruiser along with a civilian’s pickup truck. The officers then shot at the man following an interaction after the crash.
The baby was in the back of the pickup and died at the scene while his father died of his injuries in a Toronto hospital a week later. Authorities have not identified them.
The three subject officers, who were designated as such on the basis of information that they each discharged their firearm in the course of the incident, have not as yet availed themselves of an opportunity to be interviewed, the SIU revealed Friday in an update on their investigation.
Subject officers are under no legal obligation to speak with the SIU, but may if they choose to do so, an SIU news release states.
To date, 18 witness officers and 14 civilian witnesses have been interviewed.
An autopsy on the child was conducted Nov. 28 and there was an autopsy Dec. 4 on the father. The SIU still awaits the autopsy reports.
From the scene, two policeissued rifles and one police-issued pistol were collected. A pistol was also located in the pickup truck occupied by the boy and his father. All four
firearms and a number of spent cartridge cases remain with the Centre of Forensic Sciences (CFS) for examination, the release states.
The CFS has completed its initial trajectory analysis of the pickup truck and the SIU awaits its report, the release states.
The pickup truck was recently released to the SIU and SIU forensic investigators have commenced
a further search for evidence.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officers that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
SIU investigations often take months, but no timeline was offered Friday on when conclusions will be reached.
All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians.
Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the release states, the director of the SIU must: á Consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation depending on the evidence.
á Cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid. á Publicly report the results of its investigations.