OPP warranted in shooting man setting multiple homes ablaze in Gravenhurst: SIU

Ontario’s police watchdog says it has found that an Ontario Provincial Police officer did not commit a criminal offence when they fired a less-lethal firearm at a Gravenhurst man.

The Special Investigations Unit says the incident happened around 10:40 p.m. on April 4 in Severn Township.

Police were called to a residential neighbourhood after multiple homeowners reported a man setting fire to several homes and structures.

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According to the SIU, one homeowner reported that the suspect was threatening residents in the area with a knife and appeared to be intoxicated.

Police say the suspect had been temporarily residing at a second home before the owner asked him to leave. He then reportedly set fire to that home, as well others, before police arrived.

The report says that when OPP officers arrived, the suspect was located in the yard of the second home, where attempts to negotiate his surrender were made.

The SIU says the officer, having reason to believe the man had a knife, shot him with an anti-riot weapon and a stun gun.

SIU director Joseph Martino found the use of the ARWEN made sense when the man refused to peacefully surrender and began to close the distance with the officers.

“Although believed uninjured, he had been taken to Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) for examination,” the report reads.

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