Ottawa: SIU clears officer who shot suspect during July hostage standoff, suspect suffered fractured leg

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has concluded that an Ottawa officer who fired during a hostage standoff this summer will not face criminal charges. Director Joseph Martino found no reasonable grounds to believe the Ottawa Police Service officer committed a criminal offence; the conclusion was published on October 30, under case number 26-OFI-305.

July 2 on Finlayson Crescent: a woman held at knifepoint, a 14-hour standoff

The incident began on the morning of July 2, when police were called to a home on Finlayson Crescent where a woman was being held by a man at knifepoint, leading to a standoff lasting about 14 hours. According to the SIU's account, the standoff ended inside an upstairs bedroom where the woman was being held at knifepoint; as officers stormed the bedroom, the suspect grabbed one officer's legs in a bear hug, and the officer fired his rifle downward twice, with one shot striking the suspect's lower right leg.

Suspect, 42, suffered a comminuted tibial fracture; hostage was physically unharmed at the time

The man who was shot was 42 years old and was later diagnosed with a comminuted fracture of the right distal tibia — the lower end of the shinbone, near the ankle, shattered by the bullet. Ottawa police said at the time that the woman who had been held was physically unharmed and was receiving support. The SIU's conclusion addresses the officer's actions in this shooting; the published summary does not say what happened to the man after his injury was treated, nor whether he faces other charges, and the officer's name has not been released.

The SIU's role and the scope of its conclusion

The SIU is Ontario's independent agency for investigating police conduct, and its mandate is automatically engaged in cases involving an officer discharging a firearm, a death or a serious injury; the director must decide on the evidence whether there are reasonable grounds to believe a criminal offence was committed, laying a charge if so and otherwise publishing a conclusion report. In this case the conclusion is that, for this shooting, there were no grounds for a criminal charge, and the SIU's examination of the officer's conduct is closed.