Police fatally shoot woman, 30, in Hamilton

Officers responding to call about a knife, used a Taser before shooting

Police shot and killed a 30-yearold woman after going to a knife call on King St. E. in Hamilton, Ont., early Saturday morning.

The province’s Special Investigation Unit is investigating at the scene at 320 King. St. E., just west of Wellington Street.

At about 1 a.m., police received a 911 call about a woman with a knife at a home, which appears to be above a vape shop. Officers who entered became involved in “an interaction” with the woman and one officer used a Taser. It is unclear if the Taser connected with the woman.

A second officer shot the woman. She was pronounced dead at hospital at 2:04 a.m. The word “DIE” has been graffitied on the sidewalk in front of the gold-coloured heritage building, which was once a butcher shop.

One officer is the subject of the SIU investigation and there are two witness officers.

The SIU says no police officers were injured during the confrontation.

A post-mortem is scheduled for Sunday morning.

As SIU investigators worked the scene, Robert Chinnery walked up to a group of journalists gathered nearby and said police had also killed his son.

His son, Andreas Chinnery, was fatally shot by Hamilton police in 2011 in his own apartment on Barton Street East.

The officer who fired told an inquest that Andreas had charged at him with a baseball bat and refused to drop it. The officer was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Robert has been vocal since then in his criticism of Hamilton police and what he believes was the unnecessary shooting of his son, who was just 19.

The SIU still hasn’t completed its investigation into the last fatal shooting by Hamilton police in April.

Quinn MacDougall, also 19, was killed outside his Mountain townhouse complex. The teen had called police several times that day, believing his life was in danger.

Last year, legislative changes made it mandatory for the unit to release its full reports on officer-involved deaths.

Before that, the SIU would only tell the public if subject officers were being cleared or charged, with few other details made public.