SIU clears officers in fatal shooting
Victim was shot seven times after attacking police with steak knife
Two Windsor police officers made the right call when they shot and killed a distraught man attacking them with a steak knife last year, the police watchdog said Thursday. Despite dealing with unco-operative officers and a gap in video footage at the moment of the shooting, the Special Investigations Unit has cleared police of any wrongdoing in the death of 33-year-old Matthew Mahoney. The two unnamed officers shot him a total of seven times. It happened March 21, 2018, outside a downtown McDonald’s. “I find that it would have been foolish and reckless for (Subject Officer 1) and (Subject Officer 2) to risk their lives by waiting for the Complainant, with knife in hand, to further close the gap between himself and the officers thereby putting their own lives, and the lives of each other, at immediate risk of serious injury or death,” Tony Loparco, director of the Special Investigations Unit, wrote in the report released Thursday. “I further find that risk was not one that SO #1 and SO #2 ought to have had to take when faced with a knife wielding man who had shown he was not reluctant to use it and who was quickly advancing and slashing a dangerous weapon against the two officers.”
The Windsor Police Service said Chief Al Frederick is the only person that can comment on the report. He wasn’t available Thursday.
The SIU, which investigates cases of serious injury, sexual assault and death involving police, had 10 investigators on the case. They interviewed eight witness officers. Neither of the “subject officers” involved in the shooting consented to an interview. They also refused to hand over their notebooks. The SIU said the officers, referred to as Subject Officer 1 and Subject Officer 2, are legally entitled to refuse co-operation. Investigators identified 32 civilian witnesses and did detailed interviews with 18 of those people, including Mahoney’s mother. The SIU also obtained video recordings from several buildings surrounding the shooting zone, but Loparco noted in his report there was an unexplained gap in the video footage during a 54-second period when Mahoney was shot.
“It should be noted that these recordings were released to the SIU by the WPS,” Loparco said. “Unfortunately, for some reason, the Shoppers Drug Mart Plaza was not canvassed by the SIU. In response to an inquiry by the SIU for any missing recordings, the WPS advised that they did not obtain any recording of the noted 54 second gap in time during which the shooting occurred and assured the SIU that all recordings had been released to the SIU. The sequential digital files of the 16 Shoppers Drug Mart Plaza recordings appeared consistent with that information.” The 20-page report relies heavily on witness statements. One of the witnesses was an outreach worker with the Windsor Essex Community Health Centre. That person, referred to as Civilian Witness 5 (CW#5), was on a ride-along with Subject Officer 2 and had a front row view of what happened. She stated that Subject Officer 1 fell to the ground while being attacked. The outreach worker said the officer she was shadowing, who was standing on the road at this point, yelled “Stop!” “Following which the Complainant ran at SO #2, at full sprint, with the knife in hand,” Loparco wrote. “CW #5 described the Complainant as running while bent over, like a linebacker, with his knees bent, and that he was arched forward with the knife raised in his hand. When the Complainant had closed the gap between himself and SO#2 to roughly five to eight feet, SO#2 fired his weapon.” An autopsy was conducted March 22 in London. The forensic pathologist found seven gunshot wounds. Mahoney was shot in the right forearm, the right thigh, and the abdomen.
There was also an entrance wound to the left rear side of the chest. That bullet was found in the front of his chest. It caused extensive damage to the left lung resulting in a hemorrhage. The pathologist considered this the fatal wound.
The SIU report, which calls Mahoney “the complainant” instead of referring to him by name, makes no mention of his mental health issues. He battled schizophrenia for 20 years.
“My brother shouldn’t be remembered for the last 15 seconds of his life,” said Michael Mahoney. “He needs to be remembered as a person who was suffering and needed help, and wasn’t getting it from the people that were supposed to help him.” Michael Mahoney said there is nothing “new or surprising ” to his family in the SIU report. “But this is the first step to a coroner’s inquest that can look at the broader picture,” he said. “The SIU investigated 15 seconds of my brother’s life. We need a coroner’s inquest to investigate the last 20 years of my brother’s life.”
He said he wants an inquest to probe how the health care system “failed Matthew” and how to prevent a similar tragedy from happening to someone else. “Police should not be involved, they are not first line mental health professionals,” said Mahoney. “Anytime police have to go into a situation that they’re not equipped for, it’s going to be dangerous for people like my brother who suffer from mental health issues like schizophrenia.” According to the SIU, police received a call at 8:04 a.m. about a man outside Starbucks at the intersection of Wyandotte Street East and Ouellette Avenue. He was carrying a butcher block of kitchen knives and “making people uncomfortable and worried.” Several officers responded. They were initially unable to find the man. But at 8:11 a.m., an officer spotted him walking east on Wyandotte.
One minute and three seconds later, another officer had been stabbed and Mahoney was shot seven times.
“Shots fired. Shots fired. He wielded the knife and ran at officers,” Subject Officer 1 reported over the radio at 8:12 a.m. The officer then said, “I need EMS. Step it up please. I’ve been stabbed in the hand.”
The SIU report states that Subject Officer 2 first drove up to the man and tried to talk to him on Dufferin Place between McDonald’s and Shoppers Drug Mart. The man walked away. Subject Officer 1 arrived and blocked the entrance to the drugstore parking lot with his cruiser. That officer got out of the car and also tried to talk to the man.
The man then pulled out a knife and “slashed at the officer.” The officer Tasered him but it was ineffective.
“The Complainant can be seen to turn and start to run at SO #1, resulting in SO #1 backing away and then running west, away from the Complainant, as the Complainant gives chase,” the SIU reported. “Both men are seen in close proximity and they appear to swing their arms at each other.” Subject Officer 1 backed away and came up against a “half-wall.” The officer fell on the curb. The man with the knife kept slashing at him. The office suffered a cut to his right palm.
A civilian witness told the SIU that the officer was kicking at the man to protect himself. Subject Officer 2 got out and yelled at the man. The man then turned on the second officer and “quickly advanced on him, while continuously swinging the knife.” The second officer pulled out his gun while yelling at the man to drop the knife.
“When the Complainant closed the gap between himself and SO #2 to approximately six feet, while continuing to slash at the officer with a large steak knife that he had in his hand, both SO #1 and SO #2 discharged their firearms,” the SIU said. “The man was transported to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:29 a.m.” The shots that killed Mahoney were “justified,” Loparco wrote. “And that SO #1 and SO #2, in preserving themselves and each other from death or grievous bodily harm from the Complainant, used no more force than was necessary to affect that lawful purpose,” he wrote. “As such, I am therefore satisfied on reasonable grounds on this record that the actions exercised by SO #1 and SO #2, despite the tragic loss of life, fell within the limits prescribed by the criminal law and there are no grounds for proceeding with criminal charges in this case.”