SIU looks for witnesses to Pelham shooting involving two officers

PELHAM, ONT. — Twelve police officers have been designated as witness officers in Thursday’s shooting between two Niagara regional police officers.

The Special Investigations Unit is probing the shooting that took place shortly after noon in a rural area in Pelham, Ont.

While the provincial agency has released no names, multiple sources have told the Welland Tribune the two officers involved were Const. Nathan Parker and Det. Sgt. Shane Donovan of the traffic collision reconstruction unit. The collision reconstruction unit was in the area investigating a collision that had occurred more than a week ago.

The SIU reported the two had some sort of altercation and Donovan allegedly shot Parker at least five times with his service weapon. Parker was taken to Hamilton General Hospital with serious injuries.

Parker was in stable condition Friday, the SIU said.

“At this time, one subject officer has been designated. The officer who was struck, as well as 12 other officers, have been designated as witness officers. As per the unit’s policy, the identities of police officers who have been designated cannot be disclosed during the course of an SIU investigation,” the SIU said in a release.

The SIU is a provincial agency that probes incidents involving police in which a civilian is seriously injured or killed. The vacuum of official information about the incident — including the lack of information about the whereabouts of the officer who allegedly fired his gun — has prompted concern from critics.

“All the public’s aware of is one officer shot the other — even though they didn’t say that, which is really dumbfounding,” Howard Morton, a lawyer and former director of the SIU, said in an interview Friday.