The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says it found no reasonable grounds to believe four South Simcoe Police officers committed a crime in connection with the shootings of two 19-year-old men in Innisfil in August.
One man was killed and the other man was seriously injured, according to the SIU.
In the report released Monday, the SIU said officers were called on the afternoon of Aug. 15, 2024, to the area of Shoreview Drive in connection with a domestic disturbance.
The report states that a civilian witness had called police to report that the two complainants had attacked another person with a plastic hockey stick and baseball bat. It says three people had pulled into the garage of a home on Shoreview Drive when the complainants confronted the victim as he exited the vehicle and assaulted him. The victim took refuge in a neighbour's house where he was joined by family members.
According to the SIU, officers met with the witnesses at the neighbour's home and learned of a conflict in the relationship between the complainants and the victim. One of the individuals told police that there were firearms on the property to which he alone had access.
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When officers arrived at the residence, one cruiser pulled onto the driveway while the other cruisers were stopped nearby. The SIU said there was an SUV parked in the driveway facing toward the road and the cruisers. There was one person in the driver's seat of the SUV and a second person in the front passenger seat, the report stated.
From inside his cruiser, an officer motioned to the complainants to turn off the vehicle. The SIU said the officer exited their car and told them to shut off the engine, to which the individual in the passenger seat responded "No." The officer advised the complainants they just wanted to talk to them and warned them not to move the vehicle.
The SIU said the SUV began to turn in the direction of the officer and it started to travel towards him.
"The officer again yelled at them to not move in the vehicle and pointed his firearm over his driver's door at the complainants' vehicle as it picked up speed. He fired five times in the direction of the driver's seat as the complainants' vehicle closed the distance and passed his cruiser, striking the open driver's door in the process and slamming it shut before colliding with a pillar and coming to a stop," the report said.
The person in the driver's seat was struck in the head and killed by one of the bullets.
The SIU said that following the initial volley of gunshots, the officers regrouped and surrounded the SUV as the person on the passenger side partially climbed atop the individual in the driver's seat and took hold of the steering wheel. At this time, one officer was standing no more than a metre or two from the driver's door, the report stated, and with his gun pointed at the complainant, the officer repeatedly ordered him to raise his hands and not move the vehicle. The complainant placed the SUV in reverse and began to travel backward when he was met with another barrage of gunfire, the SIU said. One officer fired seven times and another officer discharged three bullets, according to the report, while another officer fired once or twice, and another officer fired two or three times, as the SUV came to a stop by a tree on the front lawn.
The SIU said about 12 seconds had elapsed between the two series of gunshots.
Both 19-year-olds were transported to hospital where one of them was pronounced dead and the other was treated for gunshot wounds to his left chest, right upper arm, left lower arm, and left face.
The full report can be found here.
