SIU investigating after police find dead man inside Kitchener house
KITCHENER — A 69-year-old man is dead and the province’s Special Investigations Unit is investigating after police were called to a house and attempted to negotiate with a man who was trying to harm himself.
Police received a 911 domestic call from a house on Tilley Court, off Carson Drive in the Stanley Park neighbourhood, at about 4 a.m., said Insp. Michael Haffner of the Waterloo Regional Police.
A woman called and said she feared for the safety of a man in the house, Haffner said.
“The young female was concerned for the lone male inside,” he said.
Haffner said she left the house. No one else was in the home.
Members of the emergency response unit arrived in the neighbourhood and police closed the road. A command post vehicle was posted at the end of the court.
Haffner said police used a robot to negotiate with the man.
“We attempted to negotiate with the male to exit the residence safely,” he said.
The SIU said the police attempted numerous times to contact the man in the house. Police went into the home at 10 a.m. The man was pronounced dead at the house.
Nearby schools — Canadian Martyrs Catholic Elementary School and Mackenzie King Public School — were put on a hold and secure for most of the morning.
Haffner said police notified the schools of the standoff because weapons may have been involved.
Police also told the community to stay away from the area via Twitter.
Haffner said the Special Investigations Unit was called “in case any action by our officers could have led to the man’s death.”
Police would not say how the man died or if a weapon was used.
The SIU is appealing to anyone who may have information about this investigation to contact the lead investigator at 1-800787-8529. The unit is also urging anyone who may have any video evidence related to this incident to upload the video through the SIU website at www.siu.on.ca.