The SIU has completed their investigation into the case where two Guelph Police officers shot and killed a man inside Guelph General Hospital on May 20th, 2015.
The province’s police watchdog revealed there are no reasonable grounds to lay charges to the officers.
Just after noon on May 20, 2015, 36-year-old Brandon Duncan entered Guelph General Hospital.
According to the release, Mr. Duncan spoke to a registered nurse, indicating there was an issue with his colostomy bag and a particular component needed to be cut. The nurse provided him with a pair of bandage scissors and he entered the washroom.
Two minutes later, Mr. Duncan returned to the triage area and was bleeding profusely from fresh cuts on both of his forearms and clenching the same pair of scissors he had received earlier.
Mr. Duncan then walked up to a young woman who was seated in the hallway and grabbed hold of the back of her neck, attempted to jab her with the pair of scissors. Her boyfriend intervened, dislodging Mr. Duncan’s grip and pushing him away.
Two subject officers were in the same area of the hospital and heard the woman scream. They rushed towards the assault. Investigators say Mr. Duncan turned to the officers, still brandishing the scissors. Both officers pointed their firearms at Mr. Duncan who began moving towards the officers.
Both officers can be seen on video backing up with their firearms drawn. Mr. Duncan continued to walk towards them before they both began shooting. Four seconds elapsed between the officers drawing and discharging their firearms. A post-mortem examination revealed that Mr. Duncan was shot a total of six times and died of trauma from multiple gunshot wounds.
“As soon as the officers entered the scene they could see an assault in progress involving a man armed with a pair of scissors who was acting in a violent manner. The man’s arms were covered in blood. From that point onwards, it was a matter of seconds until the shooting, at which time I have no doubt that both officers feared for their own lives , the lives of one another, and those of the various civilians in the immediate area," says SIU Director Tony Loparco.
“Both officers had backed up down the hallway with their firearms drawn while issuing commands to Mr. Duncan to stop advancing and put down the weapon. Despite this, Mr. Duncan continued to quickly close the distance between them with his weapon drawn. Only when there were no other apparent options available did the officers open fire almost simultaneously.”
The two subject officers in this investigation declined to participate in SIU interviews and did not provide copies of their duty notes, as is their legal right.
The investigation included interviews with seven witness officers and more than two dozen civilian witnesses. Eight surveillance videos from inside and outside the hospital also provided a comprehensive and coherent account of the incident.
