Ottawa Citizen

Women saw murder suspect enter river

SIU seeking witnesses who flagged down police from banks of Rideau

- ROBERT BOSTELAAR AND ANDREW SEYMOUR rbostelaar@ottawaciti­zen.com Twitter: @robt_bostelaar

The province’s Special Investigat­ions Unit says it’s seeking a group of women who were on the banks of the Rideau River and flagged down police near the time a murder suspect entered the water.

SIU spokeswoma­n Kaia Werbus said investigat­ors hope to speak with the women who were on the shore of the river near Mann Avenue and Range Road on the evening of Wednesday, June 24, when Muhab Sultanaly Sultan, 23, disappeare­d below the surface while trying to elude police.

The provincial watchdog agency on Tuesday confirmed that a body found in the river three days later was that of Sultan, who was wanted in a much-publicized slaying of a teenager over a cellphone in London, Ont., and a subsequent attack on two Ottawa police officers during a traffic stop.

Even before the official identifica­tion, Sultan was widely believed to have been the driver who steered his vehicle toward the bicycle officers at Rideau Street and King Edward Avenue. One suffered minor injuries.

Other officers chased the vehicle to Wiggins Private in the Sandy Hill neighbourh­ood, where the driver fled into a nearby wooded area. Hours later, police said, the man was seen trying to swim across the Rideau River.

Two officers went into the water but the man was “showing signs of distress” and slipped below the surface as they drew closer, police said in a news release.

The SIU said two members of the Ottawa Police Service are “subject officers” in its investigat­ion and nine others have been designated witnesses.

It asked the women who waved down police that night to call 1-800-787-8529 or make contact through the unit’s website at siu. on.ca.

A passenger in Sultan’s vehicle was taken into custody after the chase, but London police said later he’s not connected to their investigat­ion of the June 14 shooting, which has spurred debate over the safety of applicatio­ns that trace missing or stolen devices.

Jeremy Cook, 18, had used such a program to track his phone to a parking lot about 5 a.m. According to police, Cook became involved in a confrontat­ion with three men in a silver car. When the car began driving away Cook grabbed the driver’s door and was shot several times. His body was found behind a strip mall.

Sultan, who had moved to Calgary in 2012 but returned regularly to London, was from a family well known for clashes with police and other authoritie­s.

His father, Sultan Sultan, came to Ottawa after he was contacted Saturday by police seeking dental records for his son.

He said he didn’t believe his son could be a murderer. The family distrusts police because of previous encounters, said Sultan, who said his son was jailed twice as a teenager.

“We’ve had very bad experience­s with police in the past, especially my son,” he said.

The Special Investigat­ions Unit is a provincial watchdog agency that investigat­es deaths and other serious events involving police officers.

Two officers went into the water but the man was ‘showing signs of distress’ and slipped below the surface as they drew closer.

 ?? JEAN LEVAC/ OTTAWA CITIZEN ?? Investigat­ors hope to hear from a group of women who were on the banks of the Rideau River, near Mann Avenue and Range Road the night of June 24.
JEAN LEVAC/ OTTAWA CITIZEN Investigat­ors hope to hear from a group of women who were on the banks of the Rideau River, near Mann Avenue and Range Road the night of June 24.

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