The province's police watchdog says South Bruce OPP officers didn't commit a criminal offence when fatally shooting a man this February.
The Special Investigations Unit invoked their mandate on February 21, after a police-involved shooting of a 48-year-old man in a rural area between Port Elgin and Paisley.
After months of investigation, SIU Director Joseph Martino said there were no reasonable grounds to charge the officer involved, saying his actions were legally justified.
"Confronted by the Complainant brandishing a shotgun in his direction, it is plain to see how the officer believed that a resort to force was necessary to preserve himself from an immediate threat of death," wrote Martino.
According to the SIU's timeline of events, the suspect first reported experiencing hallucinations that morning. Police found him barricaded in his bedroom and at the man's request, transported him to Kincardine hospital.
He was discharged around 9 a.m. Shortly after, it was reported that he attempted to break into a former partner's residence and stole her vehicle.
OPP spent the day tracking the suspect as he went on a spree of multiple residential break and enters and vehicle thefts throughout South Bruce. That included the theft of a firearm.
Officers were eventually able to identify his movements when he stole a set of car keys containing a tracking device. Police deployed a spike belt, resulting in the vehicle losing control and entering a ditch. The man then ran to a nearby rural residence and demanded the homeowners' vehicle at gunpoint.
OPP surrounded him as he attempted to flee the home in the car. Body camera footage showed that the involved officer approached the vehicle the suspect was in, demanding that he raise his hands and not move.
When the officer opened the car door, the man turned his head and used his right hand to point a modified shotgun in his direction.
The officer fired eight rounds from his rifle at the man, killing him.
Martino noted that "there was no time for retreat or withdrawal... nor would less-lethal force have sufficed to address the exigencies of the situation."
Satisfied that the officer acted reasonably given the situation, the SIU has closed the file.
