Why is almost all about toddler’s death secret?
The baby’s name is Jameson Shapiro.
He deserves at least that much: A name.
Which hasn’t been divulged by the Special Investigations Unit, out of purported respect for the child’s family, at their request. Even though the toddler’s name is disclosed on a GoFundMe page, along with photos of the bright-eyed youngster.
The Star obtained confirmation of the boy’s identity from an independent source. Because it matters — putting a name to a baby who perished. It matters more than privacy wishes when crimes are committed. For the record, for the annals, for the ever-after. A child must not die anonymously in our midst.
A dead baby, for the love of God. And almost nothing but institutional silence about the how of it.
Jameson, an autistic child, was 18 months old when he was struck by gunfire, on Nov. 26 in Kawartha Lakes.
That bullet (or bullets) was fired either by a pistol the father had in his possession on that foggy morning or by one of the three OPP officers who discharged their weapons during the confrontation at a police roadblock on Pigeon Lake Road.
Or, one other possibility, which arises from the carefully constructed wording in statements that have been issued by the Special Investigations Unit: Jameson was already dead before the fusillade.
“Both sustained gunshot wounds,” says the SIU’s dispatch, and “the child was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
Was Jameson killed by gunfire or was there another cause of death? Was he already deceased
when gunfire exploded at that roadblock?
“I wouldn’t comment on that question at this point,” Joseph Martino, SIU director, told the Star Tuesday.
The same boilerplate “no comment” the SIU has made to nearly every query, beyond the slight drip of detail: Two police issued rifles and one police-issued pistol recovered from the scene; one pistol found in the father’s pickup.
None of the three subject officers have agreed to be interviewed by SIU investigators, as is their charter right. Eighteen witness officers and 14 civilian witnesses have been interviewed, according to the most recent news release put out by the SIU, on Jan. 15.
The father died in hospital almost a week later.
The baby had allegedly been abducted from the family home in Trent Lakes, northeast of Bobcaygeon, by his dad. The distraught mother, her older son and another woman ran to a neighbour’s house, banging loudly on the door, and called police about the kidnapping.
The baby was autopsied on Nov. 28.
But it’s been two months since the horrific event. And still the SIU has offered only crumbs.
It is simply not credible that ballistic testing hasn’t yet determined who shot Jameson — father or cops. This is Forensics 101 — identifying a bullet by its markings. Which should have been information delivered to the SIU promptly. Was it?
“I can’t comment on that question other than to say that I’m not sure the premise of your question is correct. You see, this is the danger. You’re assuming some information or knowledge that would not actually be correct.”
Which is precisely what happens — not just among journalists but by a public demanding to know what happened — when key details are kept under wraps.
The SIU hasn’t said even if a bullet was retrieved from the baby in the post-mortem.
Say what you will about America, but it’s a certainty that, if a similar event had
occurred in the U.S., law enforcement would have made such information public almost immediately.
“No doubt about it,” Martino agrees. “It’s a different landscape down there. When you look at the news and see all this body camera footage, it seems like within hours.”
There is no body camera footage from this violent encounter, says Martino. It doesn’t exist.
Just as — bet on it — the retrieval of a gun that had been fired by a suspect in a homicide would be released by Toronto cops in any circumstances that didn’t involve the SIU. The civilian oversight agency is mandated to investigate any interaction involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
Up until seven years ago, when the SIU changed its policy, at least they would release the names of a civilian shot dead, if not identifying the subject officer — a courtesy not extended to murder suspects by police.
The scene on Pigeon Lake
Road, as described to reporters by witnesses and disclosed by the SIU, was by all accounts chaotic.
The OPP knew the truck they were looking for. An officer who had been laying down a spike belt to halt the vehicle was struck by the pickup, which also apparently hit another civilian’s truck.
Split-second decisions were made.
There may be that no one was at fault, apart from who had absconded with a son — a man who should not have been anywhere near the family because he was allegedly on a restraining order related to domestic violence.
“We are trying as fast as we can to see if we can identify who is responsible,” Martino insists. “But this case is going to come down to a puzzle. It’s not going to be one piece of evidence that’s going to give us that answer.”
The agency is still awaiting reports from completed forensic examinations. One of those is a trajectory analysis, which would give investigators “a sense of angles,” says Martino.
“Another piece of the puzzle is we have some blood stain patterns. It’s important to know who’s blood is whose. We don’t have that report yet either. Hopefully that will also give us a sense of positioning within the vehicle.” Firearms report — not back. Eight weeks gone and the data has still to make it from the Centre for Forensic Science in midtown Toronto to the SIU in Mississauga.
“When we get all this it’ll paint a picture where we will know with some degree of confidence who’s responsible,” assures Martino. “Until you’ve got the full picture, we’d be really out on a limb, going out there with a finding.
“I can’t go any quicker.” Yes, you can.
The secrecy is deafening.