‘It was effective’: Police defend use of conducted energy weapon on girl, 12, at Oshawa school

A Durham regional police spokesperson defended an officer’s use of a conducted energy weapon on a 12-year-old at an Oshawa school on Monday morning saying it effectively halted an ongoing assault and didn’t cause any serious injuries.

Police were called to Sir Albert Love Catholic School in the Hillcroft Street and Wilson Road North area around 11:30 a.m. for reports of a female student assaulting staff and students.

Sgt. Joanne Bortoluss told reporters on Tuesday that when police arrived the girl was inside a classroom armed with scissors.

“They immediately tried to de-escalate the situation,” she explained. “They requested that she drop the scissors, which she complied with.”

But Bortoluss said the girl, who she described as “irate” suddenly ran through an unlocked door into the schoolyard, where she allegedly began assaulting a staff member.

“She was violently assaulting a staff member at the school, to stop that assault the officer made the decision to deploy his conducted energy weapon.”

Sir Albert Love Catholic School in Oshawa as seen on Sept. 19, 2023. CITYNEWS/Bryan Carey

When asked if the use of such a weapon was appropriate considering the suspect’s age, Bortoluss said, “with the situation at hand it’s what the officer felt was the best decision at that time to stop this situation.”

“I know there’s a lot of focus on the (suspect being) 12 years old, but more the focus should be put on the behavior and the behaviour that was being displayed at the time.”

“That’s the decision he made, it was effective, the female didn’t suffer any injuries because of it and it did stop the assault.”

Bortoluss said the staff member that was assaulted on the schoolyard suffered a significant head injury that required hospitalization.

The girl was treated to have the Taser’s probe removed, which she called “standard.”

Bortoluss added that police aren’t yet certain what sparked the alleged assaults, but police will be reviewing how the situation was handled.

“Any time there’s a use of force we do conduct a review to ensure it is in line with out policies and procedures,” she said.

The girl, who is facing four counts of assault and one mischief charge, was released on an undertaking.

Her identity is protected under Ontario’s Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA).

The Durham Catholic District School Board released a statement saying support staff are available for “anyone who may be experiencing heightened emotions at this time.”

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has not been called into investigate the incident.

The SIU only invokes its mandate when the conduct of officers results resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharging of a firearm at a person.

With files from Lucas Casaletto