Provincial inquest to begin into death of suspect

A date has been set for a provincial inquest into the death more than five years ago of a 34-year-old man while detained by Windsor police.

Chad Romanick died Sept. 15, 2017, by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head as police surrounded the garage where he had barricaded himself.

The province's Special Investigations Unit cleared Windsor police almost a year after the standoff, saying in a report it was clear the suspect died by his own actions and was already dead when officers entered the garage.

The SIU report outlined details of the standoff, which happened in the 1500 block of Betts Avenue.

Officers attended the address in connection with a shooting that had happened in Amherstburg the night before, of a 31-yearold man in the 100 block of Sandwich Street.

The Amherstburg man was found shot and rushed to hospital in Windsor before being transferred to a Detroit hospital.

He survived his injury and was able to identify the resident of the Betts Avenue home as the shooter.

After cellphone evidence showed the suspect was in the area, Amherstburg and Windsor police surrounded the home and ordered him to come out.

At 1 p.m., a muffled gunshot was heard coming from the detached garage of the home.

Officers eventually entered and found the deceased with a shotgun in his lap.

In the conclusion of the SIU report on the incident, the agency noted that the deceased “had a firearm and there were reasonable grounds to arrest him for attempted murder.”

“The manner in which police officers attempted to negotiate the arrest was reasonable,” the report stated.

“The attempts at communication were calm and did not show a departure from the conduct expected of a reasonable police officer.”

The inquest, which is mandatory under the Coroner's Act, will begin March 25 with presiding officer Selwyn Pieters. The circumstances around Romanick's death will be examined.

The inquest is expected to last eight days and hear from approximately 12 witnesses.

The jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing further deaths.

The inquest will be conducted by video conference. Members of the public who wish to view the proceedings can do so live via firstclassfacilitation.ca/office-of-the-chief-coroner/inquest-into-the-death-ofchad-romanick.