Ontario watchdog clears officers after suspect who killed Const. Andrew Hong shot in Hamilton
Posted December 20, 2022 2:20 pm.
Last Updated December 20, 2022 5:06 pm.
Ontario’s police watchdog says there was no criminality on the part of the officers who fatally shot the suspect who killed a Toronto constable and two others in Peel and Halton regions.
In a report released by the Special Investigations Unit on Tuesday, it noted officials were unable to determine which bullets fired from which firearms ultimately struck 40-year-old Sean Petrie at a Hamilton cemetery in September.
“Be that as it may, Special Investigations Unit Director Joseph Martino determined the use of firearms by the officers constituted legally justified force given the circumstances,” a statement from the agency said.
“As there were no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the officers comported themselves other than within the limits of the criminal law when they fired at the man, there was no basis for proceeding with charges in this case.”
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It was on Sept. 12 when officers said Petrie fatally shot Const. Andrew Hong at a Mississauga Tim Hortons while he was on a lunch break. They said he then stole a Jeep and went to a Milton auto repair garage where he used to work and fatally shot the shop’s owner, Shakeel Ashraf, and an employee, Satwinder Singh.
The shootings triggered an emergency alert to be issued in Ontario. The SIU report said investigators pinged Petrie’s phone after he was identified by those at the garage. Officers eventually caught up with Petrie at a west-end Hamilton cemetery.
The report said the suspect was armed with a pistol, carrying a plastic bag with extra ammunition and wearing a ballistic vest capable of stopping bullets used in some police weapons when he was eventually tracked down by police in a Hamilton cemetery that afternoon.
It noted the suspect approached a police officer and started firing in her direction, then four officers fired their weapons and shot the suspect, who appeared to be trying to reload his pistol.
With files from The Canadian Press
