SIU clears Ottawa officer who shot man during hostage-taking

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director has found no reasonable grounds to believe an Ottawa Police Service officer committed a criminal offence when he shot a 42-year-old man during a hostage-taking on July 2, the agency said Friday.

SIU director Joseph Martino concluded the officer fired to protect himself from attack, according to the SIU news release dated Oct. 30, 2026 on case 26-OFI-305. The full report is posted on the SIU’s director’s reports page.

The SIU said police were called to the area of Old Second Line Road and Old Carp Road about a woman being held hostage. After hours of negotiations, tactical officers set off distraction devices and entered an upstairs bedroom where the woman was being held at knifepoint, the agency said.

The man grabbed an officer in a bear hug around the upper legs, the SIU said. The officer aimed his C8 rifle downward and fired twice, striking the man once in the lower right leg.

A struggle followed in which the man was struck several times by multiple officers and handcuffed, the SIU said. He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with a comminuted fracture of the right distal tibia caused by a bullet.

Martino said he was satisfied the officer fired his weapon to protect himself. The man claimed to have a firearm, and the officers did not know whether he still had the knife, the director found. “Any reasonable person in the circumstances would have feared for their life and taken steps to defend themselves,” the SIU summarized the director’s reasoning.

The SIU is an independent civilian agency that investigates incidents involving police that result in death, serious injury, sexual assault or a firearm discharge at a person. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the director must decide whether an officer committed a criminal offence, and either lay a charge or close the file.

The decision is one of several the unit has released in recent weeks. Canada News Media has also reported on the SIU’s findings in a separate Ottawa case involving a fall from a garage rail, an officer’s collision in Kingston and a fatal shooting in Welland. Our coverage of oversight in other provinces includes a look at B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office.

The SIU said anyone affected by an incident under its investigation can reach its Affected Persons Program at 1-877-641-1897. The SIU did not name the officer or the man in its release.

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