Kawartha Lakes
Ontario’s police watchdog says it has charged three officers in the shooting death of a an 18-month-old boy.
The Special Investigations Unit had been investigating after it said Ontario Provincial Police officers shot at the boy’s father in his car in Kawartha Lakes, Ont., after he allegedly abducted his child on Nov. 26, 2020.
The child, identified by the SIU as 18-month-old Jameson Shapiro, died that day while the father died of gunshot wounds about a week later.
The SIU says three OPP constables – Nathan Vanderheyden, Kenneth Pengelly and Grason Cappus – have each been charged with one count of manslaughter and one count of criminal negligence causing death in relation to the boy’s death.
The agency says the officers are set to appear in a Lindsay, Ont., court on Oct. 6.
The SIU had previously said evidence suggested police gunfire killed the boy and his father.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2022.
