London police justified in shooting man who fatally stabbed Breanna Broadfoot: SIU

WARNING: This story contains graphic discussion of intimate partner violence.

A new report from Ontario's police watchdog is shedding light on the response by London police to the fatal July stabbing of Breanna Broadfoot, and the shooting of her 18-year-old boyfriend by officers.

In the report, released on Friday, the director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Joseph Martino, cleared the two London police officers who responded to the initial call, and who fatally shot the man after he advanced toward them with a knife, the report says.

Police arrived at 86 Wellesley Cres., just after 10:54 p.m. on July 16, after receiving a frantic phone call from an occupant in the home that the 18-year-old had stabbed his girlfriend multiple times in the kitchen with a knife, and had stabbed a second victim in the leg.

According to the report, the initial caller and the second victim witnessed the man "pummelling his girlfriend," in the kitchen, and tried to intervene, "even as the Complainant took possession of a knife and started stabbing," his girlfriend.

After the second victim received a slash to his right calf, the two locked themselves in an upstairs bathroom and called police, the report says.

Around 11 p.m., the two officers forced their way into the home, the report says.

Coming downstairs was the initial caller, who "pointed to the top of the staircase." Weapons drawn, the two found the second victim in the upstairs bathroom, who motioned toward another room, the report says.

"The officers arrived on the second-floor, where a bloodied female — Witness #1 — lay by the threshold of the open door to a bedroom," the report says, referring to Broadfoot as Witness #1.

"In close proximity to Witness #1 was the Complainant. He rose to his feet with a knife in his right hand, it's blade covered in blood, stepped past Witness #1, and started to advance on the officers. The officers screamed at the Complainant to drop the knife," the report continues.

The 18-year-old continued to approach and raised the knife, at which point the officers opened fire — one fired once, the other three times, both from their service pistols, the report says. He was three metres away.

Broadfoot was "grievously injured but still breathing," and was rushed to hospital, and two days later was pronounced dead.

The suspect, identified in previous court records as Kuhkpaw Moo, was three metres away when he was shot. He was disarmed and placed in handcuffs, and was later pronounced dead of multiple gunshot wounds, the report says.

In the report, Martino clears the officers of any criminal wrongdoing, saying they fired their guns believing it was necessary to protect themselves and others, and that it constituted reasonable defensive force.

"The officers had every reason to believe that the Complainant had just attacked his girlfriend and (the second victim) with a knife. The evidence was on graphic display before them," Martino writes.

At the scene, SIU investigators found blood in the home's kitchen, along the handrails and walls of the stairwell, in an upstairs bedroom, and on the floor and walls of the upstairs bathroom, the report says.

"And here he was rising to his feet with a bloodied knife in his right hand and advancing on the officers. The Complainant's intention could not have been any clearer, as was the peril of grievous bodily harm or death the officers faced in that moment."

Speaking with CBC News on Friday, Brett Broadfoot, Breanna's father, said he was grateful that the officers were cleared. "They were not only trying to protect their own lives, but also trying to save our daughter's life," he said.

"We know how traumatic it could be to do what they had to do, and we want them to know they have our support if they ever need us. We just we thank them for their efforts, really."

Broadfoot's family told CBC News in July that Breanna was being supported by Victim Services of Middlesex-London following a violent incident in March involving the same man.

Court documents obtained by CBC News show that Moo had been charged with assault, and assault with choking, suffocation or strangulation after an alleged incident in March involving Broadfoot, and was scheduled to attend court on July 31. 

Moo was released the same day he was arrested, March 15, with orders to not communicate or go near Broadfoot, the documents show. He was also ordered not to possess any weapons.

Appearing before a parliamentary committee earlier this month, Broadfoot's brother, Lucas, called for better education, enhanced support for survivors, and justice system reforms to ensure perpetrators of domestic violence "are not left to continue their harmful behaviour unchallenged."

If you or someone you know is struggling, here's where to get help:

For anyone affected by family or intimate partner violence, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services. ​​If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.

In London, support is also available through Anova, Atlosha Native Family Healing Services, London Abused Women's Centre, Regional Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Treatment Centre, and Victim Services of Middlesex-London.