SIU clears York police officers in early morning shooting that left man dead
Posted March 25, 2023 11:11 am.
Last Updated March 27, 2023 11:47 am.
Two undercover police officers will not face charges following an early morning shooting with suspects wanted in a string of home invasions in Markham last fall.
The incident began just after 7 a.m. on November 25, 2022, outside a residence on Eyer Drive, near Rodick and Macrill roads.
York region police were investigating a series of armed robberies in Markham and plainclothes officers were tracking multiple suspects in a white vehicle on the morning of the shooting.
In its report, the province’s Special Investigations Unit says two men in a BMW X6 approached a black Ford F150 pickup truck which was parked in the driveway of a home on Eyer Drive. Two undercover police officers were inside the truck.
One of the suspects, who was armed with a knife, began pounding on the driver’s side window and demanded why they were being followed. The second suspect then emerged from the SUV with a shotgun and pointed the barrel of the weapon through an opening in the window at the head of one of the officers.
The two officers inside the truck then started shooting at the suspects, killing one of them and injuring the other.
According to the SIU, 45 rounds of ammunition were fired between the two officers in the direction of the suspects. There were no shots fired at the undercover officers.
“Confronted with a shotgun, the officers had every reason to believe that they were at imminent risk of grievous bodily harm or death. That fear, in my view, held true throughout the barrage of gunfire,” concluded SIU Director Joseph Martino. “I am also satisfied that the force used by the officers constituted reasonable defensive force.”
The SIU investigates the conduct of officials, including police officers, that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault, or a firearm’s discharge at a person.
