Man Dies After Police Chase and Shooting in Mississauga

Ontario’s police watchdog is looking into the death of a man following a crash and shooting involving officers in Mississauga early Thursday morning.

Toronto police tracked down a Mercedes that had been reported stolen the day before, arriving in Mississauga shortly before 12:30 a. m. Thursday, said Monica Hudon, spokesperson for the Special Investigations Unit.

According to her, five unmarked Toronto police cars were part of the incident, with three crashing into the Mercedes. She provided details during a news conference at the scene.

Hudon mentioned that an officer then fired at least one shot into the vehicle, hitting the driver. The man was later declared dead at the scene while police worked on notifying his family.

No details have emerged yet regarding what led to the shooting or how many shots were fired, but she stated there’s no indication of any gunfire exchange. Additionally, two other firearms were found “in the vicinity of the Mercedes.”

Hudon noted that three other passengers in the vehicle were taken into custody by police.

Toronto police tracked a stolen Mercedes to Mississauga that led to a crash and police-involved shooting that killed the driver of the vehicle. Three other occupants in the vehicle were also arrested by police, said the SIU. (Spencer Gallichan-Lowe/CBC)

The incident occurred near Council Ring Road and The Collegeway, according to Peel police’s post on social media platform X. Const. Laurie Mc Cann confirmed via email that Peel police responded to a civilian report about the shooting.

The SIU has sent four investigators, three forensic experts, and a collision reconstructionist to find out what happened leading up to and after the shooting, as stated by Hudon.

She encouraged anyone with information to contact the SIU.

Injured Toronto officer ‘doing well’: chief

Peel paramedics reported two people were taken to hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening and performed life-saving measures on the driver. Peel police added one of those injured was a Toronto officer who sustained minor injuries from a collision.

At an unrelated news conference Thursday, Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw stated that the injured officer received treatment and is “doing well.”

Demkiw noted that Toronto officers “will go where their criminal investigations lead them,” which in this instance involved Peel Region.

Ashley Visser from Toronto police confirmed their officers participated in an investigation but didn’t have specifics on what caused both collisions and shootings.

Demkiw refrained from commenting on officers’ use of force since it’s under SIU investigation but mentioned there’s still an active investigation related to those arrests.

The Toronto Police Association shared on X that officers make use-of-force decisions rapidly when faced with threats.

“No police officer ever shows up to work intending to use force,” said the association while adding they will support members throughout this investigation.

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