Charges dropped against Ontario cops in shooting that killed toddler
All criminal charges have been dropped against three Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers who were accused in a deadly police shooting that killed a father and toddler in Kawartha Lakes, Ont.
The incident happened on Nov. 26, 2020, when a child abduction was reported to police, later ending with the fatal shooting of both 18-month-old Jameson Shapiro and his 33-year-old father William Shapiro. Jameson was found dead at the scene, while his father was taken to hospital and died on Dec. 2. The shooting also left an OPP officer seriously injured.
Three OPP constables — Nathan Vanderheyden, Kenneth Pengelly and Grayson Cappus — were initially charged with one count each of manslaughter, reckless discharge of a firearm with intent and aggravated assault, in relation to the boy's death.
The Crown withdrew those charges in an Oshawa court on Monday. The decision came after a preliminary hearing into the high-profile shooting was held. In total, 12 witness were called by the Crown from Dec. 15, 2023 until Jan. 8.
The three officers were initially each charged with one count of criminal negligence causing death, but that charge was dropped as it was found redundant, Crown attorney Ian Bulmer said Monday.
"What happened on [that day] was terrible, dangerous and a traumatic event for everyone involved," Bulmer said.
Bulmer said the Crown had no evidence to disprove the officers' version of events which showed that they fired their weapons in self defence, therefore they had no reasonable prospect of conviction in the case.
He added that while the evidence gathered establishes that Jameson Shapiro died as a result of at least one police-fired bullet, his death was a "tragic, unintended consequence of [shots] fired by the defendants in a genuine situation of self defence."
Bulmer instead recommended that a coroner's inquest be launched into the incident. He said that there was evidence of a lack of coordination and communication in the OPP's immediate response.
"A coroner's inquest appears to be a much [better] forum in which to examine these issues," Bulmer said in court.
Officers were 'doing their job,' says police association
In a written statement, Ontario Provincial Police Association president John Cerasuolo called it a correct and just decision.
"In this case it has been determined that on the totality of the evidence there was no reasonable prospect of conviction," Cerasuolo said.
"Our officers were doing their job according to their training."
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) had previously said officers opened fire on Jameson's father's pickup truck while the child was in the backseat, after the truck crashed into a police cruiser and injured an officer who was laying down a spike belt. The SIU had said the truck was stopped by officers investigating reports a father had abducted his son.
The police watchdog had said evidence suggested police gunfire killed both Jameson and his father, but charges were only brought against the officers in Jameson's death. The three officers were charged two years after the shooting. The agency attributed the delay in part to the time it took to get the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's forensic test results on some of the ballistic evidence.
The Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General and the SIU did not immediately return a request for comment.
OPP Sgt. Jason Folz welcomed the withdrawals, speaking at a news conference outside the court.
"It's a sombre moment for us, it's not any kind of celebration," Folz said.
