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Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared an Ottawa Police Service officer of possible criminal charges over the discharge of a non-lethal anti-riot weapon inside the Montfort Hospital in July.
In a report posted Thursday evening, Special Investigations Unit director Joseph Martino wrote that there were “no reasonable grounds to believe that an officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident.”
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The incident narrative contained in the online report said officers were dispatched to Montfort’s mental-healthy unit after staff called for police assistance with a violent patient: a 26-year-old man who had cautions about violence in a police file and was known to be proficient in martial arts.
When officers opened a door to talk to the man, he rushed at the door, the SIU report said. Officers were able to close the door and lock it. Soon after the door was opened again and an officer fired a round from a less-lethal launcher known as an Anti-Riot Weapon ENfield (ARWEN), which is classified as a firearm. Officers then subdued the man and handcuffed him.
The 26-year-old, who had been apprehended and involuntarily admitted at the mental-health unit on July 9, was then sedated and taken back to his room, where he was restrained to a bed, the report added.
The SIU is an independent government agency charged with investigating the conduct of police officers and special constables in Ontario, including the discharge of firearms, sexual assault, death or serious injury.
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