Officer won't face charges for shooting hatchet-wielding man
Several people were injured during the November 2024 incident in east Ottawa plaza
Ontario's police watchdog is not recommending charges against an Ottawa police officer who shot a man who used a hatchet to attack people in a restaurant last autumn.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was called to look into the shooting on Nov. 15, 2024 in a plaza near St. Joseph Boulevard and Place D'Orléans Drive.
Around 11:15 p.m., Ottawa police received multiple emergency calls about a man with a weapon assaulting people and damaging vehicles, the SIU said.
The unit offered more information in a report dated March 5, including that the 33-year-old man was shot with a handgun in the leg and then twice with stun guns after he refused to drop the hatchet.
The suspect pulled into a drive-thru restaurant parking lot shortly after 11 p.m. and soon after started to assault motorists and damage vehicles and windows with a hatchet and knife, the investigation found.
One of the witnesses who spoke to the SIU reported being hit in the mouth and elbow as he waited for his food at the drive-thru window.
The officer under investigation arrived at the scene and spoke to that witness and a restaurant worker. The officer then drew his gun as the armed attacker ran toward him.
The suspect was about five metres away when the officer fired in two bursts, the second coming after the suspect did not stop. Even after being shot, the assailant kept crawling with the hatchet toward the officer.
More police arrived and two officers fired stun guns at the suspect. The SIU said the suspect had stopped crawling but was still holding the hatchet until he was stunned. It was only then he dropped the hatchet.
'Immediate stopping power'
The suspect survived. At the time, the SIU said he was taken to hospital in "critical-stable condition." The suspect did not authorize use of his medical records in this investigation and his motivations remain unclear to investigators.
Thirteen police and civilian witnesses and the officer under investigation spoke to investigators.
SIU Director Joseph Martino wrote that the officer under investigation fired eight shots because he was trying to protect himself and others, based on what he had heard and seen.
"The circumstances cried out for the immediate stopping power that only a firearm could provide," he said.
The SIU investigates when police shoot, kill, seriously injure or are accused of sexually assaulting a member of the public.