Man killed, two officers struck in shootout
BURLINGTON, Ont. — A 32-year-old man was shot and killed following an exchange of gunfire with police that also sent two officers to hospital west of Toronto, Ontario’s police watchdog said.
Five officers were involved in the shootout at a Burlington, Ont., gas station early Saturday, said Monica Hudon, a spokeswoman for the Special Investigations Unit.
“When the man exited the gas station bathroom, there was an exchange of gunfire between him and five police officers,” she said.
She said four of the officers were members of the Halton Region police and one was a provincial police officer.
Hudon said the man, who has not been publicly identified, was shot and pronounced dead on scene.
“Two Halton police officers were also struck and they were taken to hospital for treatment,” she said, adding that the officers’ injuries were not life-threatening.
She said one of the officers who was shot was engaged in gunfire with the man while the other officer who was injured was not shooting at the man.
Halton Deputy Chief Nishan Duraiappah wrote on Twitter that he visited the two officers in hospital and that they are in “good spirits and in good hands.”
Hudon said police were initially looking for a suspect involved in a collision, and about 5:30 a.m. police received a call about a suspicious man in a gas station bathroom.
She said shots were fired when police arrived to investigate.
Ontario provincial police spokesman Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said officers were investigating a two-vehicle collision about a hour before the shooting.
He said the male driver of one of the vehicles fled the scene on foot, and he is believed to be the man involved in the shooting at the gas station, which is just over two kilometres away from where the crash occurred.
Police tape closed off the gas station for much of Saturday and Hudon said five investigators and two forensic investigators have been assigned to the case.
The SIU is automatically called in to investigate reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.