Boy dead, officer hurt in Kawartha Lakes, Ont.; police watchdog investigating

A one-year-old boy was fatally shot and his father and a provincial police officer injured Thursday following an alleged abduction in central Ontario, the province’s police watchdog says.

The Special Investigations Unit said the father’s vehicle crashed into an Ontario Provincial Police cruiser and struck an officer who was outside the car while police were investigating the alleged kidnapping in Kawartha Lakes, Ont.

Three officers shot at the 33-year-old driver, said Monica Hudon, an SIU spokeswoman.

“The man was struck and he was airlifted to hospital in grave condition,” she said. “Inside the vehicle was the man’s son, a one-year-old boy, and he was fatally wounded.” 

In an email, she confirmed that the boy died of a gunshot wound. 

She also said the crash happened after police tried to pull the father’s vehicle over. 

Video from the scene showed sirens flashing through the fog on a rural road just east of Lindsay, Ont. 

Investigators — some in uniform — walked between police vehicles that were parked behind caution tape. 

The stretch of Pigeon Lake Road was closed for investigation late Thursday morning. Police shut down more of that road later in the day. 

Kawartha Lakes Mayor Andy Letham said he’s not able to comment on an ongoing investigation, but that the shooting has shaken his central Ontario municipality. 

“The community is in disbelief that this is happening,” he wrote in an email. 

He added that they appreciate what provincial police officers do to keep Kawartha Lakes safe.  

While the SIU will investigate the officers’ involvement in the shooting, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said the York Regional Police have been called in to handle other aspects of the investigation. 

“As a result of a tragic incident today, one child is dead and two others significantly injured. I ask that (the SIU) and (York police) be given time to investigate, without speculation on the events as they unfolded,” he said in a tweet. “Our thoughts and prayers are with those that are suffering today.”

He noted that the OPP officer, who was initially listed in critical condition, is now stable. He’s being treated at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. 

This is the second time in a week that the SIU has been called in to investigate the death or injury of a provincial police officer. 

Const. Marc Hovingh was shot and killed in the line of duty on Manitoulin Island on Nov. 19 while investigating an “unwanted man” on a property in Gore Bay, Ont. 

The man, identified as Gary Brohman, was also fatally shot.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2020.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press