SIU clears Toronto cop in December 2023 SUV shooting

Ontario's police watchdog found no reasonable grounds to charge a Toronto police officer with self-defense after he opened fire on an SUV that failed to stop for police in North York late last year.

On Dec. 15, 2023, police received a call about an armed robbery in Scarborough that was later found in an SUV near Plunkett Road and Millwick Road in North York, according to a press release issued by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) on Saturday. .

The officers' vehicles were in a position to intercept an Acura SUV occupied by the suspects, a 20-year-old man, a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy, the SIU said. An officer stood outside their vehicle and an SUV drove toward them, and the officer then began shooting at the vehicle before crashing into the police vehicle, the SIU said. The officer's bullet did not hit anyone in the car.

According to the publication, three were arrested. The SIU has not said if they have been charged.

In a report released Saturday, SIU Director Joseph Martino said video evidence showed the SUV may have run over the officer, falling short of a reasonable proposition that “it was not justifiable force in self-defense.”

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the actions of police officers in incidents that may result in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm.