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SIU clears Kingston police for 2017 standoff death

Man found in wrong apartment, lying in bed with baseball bat

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has determined that Kingston police can't be held responsible for a man's suicide during a standoff in April 2017.

At the time, the unit that looks into death, serious injury or sexual assault involving police in Ontario said Kingston police became aware of an assault the afternoon of April 3, 2017, and deployed officers to a rowhouse unit on Compton Street.

Several hours later, police went into the unit and found a 52-year-old man's body.

In a report made public on Friday, SIU director Tony Loparco shared more details of what happened and why police won't be criminally charged.

He said the man who died had domestic violence charges laid against him less than a month earlier, which included conditions that he not contact his former girlfriend.

However, on the afternoon of the incident he went to her home, hit her with the butt of a sawed-off shotgun and forced her into his vehicle.

She jumped out of a passenger side door and ran, narrowly dodging two bullets from his shotgun.

Police used licence plate information and the suspect's mobile phone to trace him to his home, where they set up a command post.

Suspect's texts

The suspect told police over the phone that he was trying to kill his ex girlfriend and thought he did when he shot at her, telling police he didn't want to go back to jail.

Unbeknownst to police at the time, the suspect was also texting someone else saying he would likely die next because of all the police around his home, though he would "love to take one [of] them with him."

At 10:18 p.m. the suspect suddenly hung up the phone and went up the stairs.

Witnesses heard a muffled sound they believed was a gunshot.

A little over an hour later, police went inside and found him dead with a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Procedures followed

Loparco said his texts were confirmation police did the right thing by being cautious and keeping officers and the public safe.

He said it's clear no officer went into his home or fired any weapons before he killed himself.

"It was ultimately the complainant who decided that he should end his own life rather than be arrested and taken to jail," Loparco wrote.

"Despite the tragic loss of life, the police officers tasked with this incident followed all procedures as set out in their policy guidelines and cannot be held responsible for the complainant's actions."

The SIU spoke to 11 people, including the police officer in charge, and got notes about the incident from 10 others.