SIU receives FBI results in Kawartha Lakes shooting case, has yet to draw conclusions

DAN CEARNS, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, for The Standard

KAWARTHA LAKES: The Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has provided a little update on where their investigation stands, into an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) shootout incident in Kawartha Lakes, where a one-year-old boy died.

“The Special Investigations Unit has received testing results, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in relation to the incident involving the deaths of a one-year-old boy and his father in Kawartha Lakes nearly one year ago,” a recent SIU press release stated.

However, the SIU has not yet provided any conclusions from those results.

“The SIU is reviewing the FBI’s forensic report and continues to actively investigate this tragic case. The SIU understands the public interest in the results. However, as is our process with all ongoing SIU cases, the Unit does not release details [which] could jeopardize the integrity of the investigation,” the press release explained.

The incident occurred in November 2020. In an earlier SIU release, the Unit explained the incident occurred when “the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) was made aware a father had abducted his son, from the Municipality of Trent Lakes.”

Officers then located “a pickup truck, in the City of Kawartha Lakes, on Sturgeon Road.”

“On Pigeon Lake Road, the truck became involved in a collision with an OPP cruiser and a civilian vehicle. At that time, an OPP officer was standing outside of the cruiser, and he sustained serious injuries. An interaction ensued between the 33-year-old vehicle driver and officers, and three officers discharged their firearms. The man was struck and airlifted to the hospital in grave condition. Inside the pickup truck was a one-year-old boy. He had sustained a gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the earlier press release stated.

In September, the SIU explained their investigation into the incident was “in a holding pattern” as they waited for “the results of specialized, out-of-country, forensic testing of some of the ballistic evidence by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

The SIU acknowledged this investigation has been ongoing for some time now.

“The SIU recognizes the one-year anniversary of this case is approaching and is moving as quickly as it can to bring the investigation to resolution,” the most recent SIU press release concluded.

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