Cop shot at hammer-wielding man but missed, striking civilian vehicle on busy GTA highway instead: SIU

A Peel police officer who fired his gun in an attempt to subdue a hammer-wielding man but instead struck a civilian vehicle on a busy highway in Mississauga last summer has been cleared by the province’s police watchdog.

A Peel police officer who fired his gun in an attempt to subdue a hammer-wielding man but instead struck a civilian vehicle on a busy highway in Mississauga last summer has been cleared by the province’s police watchdog.

Joseph Martino, the director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), released on Friday his findings into the June 24 incident that occurred on Highway 403 involving a plainclothes Peel police officer and a 36-year-old man.

Martino concluded that he found no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offence when he fired a single shot at the man but missed, resulting in a private vehicle being hit.

The SIU director detailed what happened that summer evening using evidence collected by investigators, which included interviews with the 36-year-old man, eyewitnesses and police officers, alongside video footage that captured parts of the incident. The agency noted that the officer designated as the subject official (SO) in the report did not agree to be interviewed as his legal right but only authorized the release of his notes.

FULL REPORT: SIU Completes Investigation into Peel Police Officer’s Discharge of Firearm at Man in Mississauga

According to the SIU, the 36-year-old man, identified in the report as the complainant, was driving a Ford Fusion on the northbound lanes of Highway 403 while intoxicated. He was with another man who was in the front passenger seat.

The SIU said the complainant drove his vehicle into a barrier on the highway. As a result, the Ford, which sustained heavy front-end damage, came to a stop by the wall.