The Special Investigations Unit says charges are not warranted against a Sudbury police officer after he shot a man armed with two large knives.
The SIU says there are no reasonable grounds to charge the officer after the April 1st, 2018 incident at the Sudbury Downtown Transit Terminal.
The SIU says four officers responded to the call about a 24-year-old man at the bus station trying to get into a security office.
When police arrived, they saw the man with a large knife in each hand and ordered him repeatedly to put down the knives.
However, instead of complying, the man raised both knives above his head with the blades pointing at the officers and made a beeline for them.
The man was tasered but the jolt had no effect.
The man again rushed toward the cops with the blades of the knives still pointed at them.
At this point, the SIU says one of the officers shot the man with a rifle hitting his abdomen.
That brought the man down and he was treated in hospital where he remained for three weeks.
The wound didn’t hit any major arteries or blood vessels but it did affect the man’s bladder.
The officer that shot the accused fired three bullets and a fragment from one of the bullets injured a 39-year-old transit employee in the security office.
This man was treated for a minor leg injury and released.
Much of the incident was captured on video at the bus station which the SIU says was very good.
However, the video contains no audio.
The video shows the accused sitting on a bench and then about 22 minutes later he has a knife to his own throat.
Seconds later the man stands up and starts pacing and a couple of minutes later is seen pacing with a knife in each hand.
Moments later the transit employee who was injured accidentally enters the security office and not far behind him is the knife-wielding man walking toward him.
About four minutes beyond this point, the man is shot by police.
In the course of handcuffing the accused, police called paramedics to treat the two injured people.
The SIU says the officer was justified in shooting the man because he threatened the lives of the other officers.
The SIU adds it’s unfortunate that the transit employee was also injured but stresses the officer had only moments to act before shooting the accused.
The SIU added it made no sense for the officer with the rifle to wait and see if the accused actually stabbed any of the other officers.
