Latest news with #Kenora
CBC
03-07-2025
- CBC
Kenora OPP officer cleared by SIU after fatally shooting man in Anicinabe Park
Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says there is "no basis" to charge police officers in the death of 57-year-old Bruce Wallace Frogg. Frogg was shot and killed by an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer in Kenora during an incident at Anicinabe Park on June 25, 2024, Ontario's police watchdog said in its report released Friday. Video footage from the cellphone of witnesses and a police cruiser camera showed Frogg holding two knives and walking toward the officers, said the SIU report. An OPP officer shot Frogg with a rifle from a distance of six to eight metres, the report said. After shooting Frogg, the officer sat in down in his police vehicle, where video footage captured him taking deep breaths and saying, "I don't know if that was the right call," according to the report. SIU director Joseph Martino said in his decision that he was satisfied the officer, referred to in the report as Subject Officer (SO) #2, used a reasonable amount of force in defence of himself and the other people present. "Nothing short of gunfire had the immediate stopping power required of the moment," said Martino. The SIU investigated the conduct of both SO #2, who shot Frogg, and an officer who assumed command of the operation soon after police first arrived. The commanding officer was referred to in the report as SO #1. Neither of the officers agreed to be interviewed by the SIU or release their notes, said the report. NAN rejects SIU's conclusion In a statement released Wednesday Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler described the investigation as "severely flawed". He said the report leaves many unanswered questions and doesn't provide accountability to NAN or Frogg's family. "We reject the conclusion that the officers' actions were reasonable and justified," said Fiddler. "There is also no analysis in the report on Bruce's state of mind at the time, how his mental state could have led to his actions, or how officers are trained to respond to a person in emotional crisis," Fiddler said. Fiddler said the SIU investigation only focused on the specific actions police took at the time, and didn't consider "signifcant and broader systemic issues." Frogg had previously struggled with addiction and significant trauma, his family previously told CBC. They said he was a survivor of the convicted sex offender and ex-priest Ralph Rowe. He also had multiple family members, including his father and other siblings, who attended residential school. Frogg was 'upset,' and said that 'no one helped him': report The SIU report included an "incident narrative" written based on interviews with witnesses and video footage. In it, the SIU said Frogg was "in a highly agitated state" when he pushed a shopping cart full of wood to the park office and set it on fire, said the report. A park employee called police, and fled through the office's back door as the building caught fire, it said. RAW: Fire at Anicinabe Park office in Kenora, Ont. 1 year ago Duration 0:55 The first officer who arrived at the scene tried to speak to Frogg, said the report. "He asked him to calm down and drop the knives. [Frogg] was extremely upset and waved the machetes in front of him. He said that no one helped him," the report said. In other instances in the report, the knives are referred to as meat cleavers. Images of the two knives collected at the park after Frogg was shot are included in the report and labelled as meat cleavers. Frogg "challenged the officers to shoot him," the report alleges. An officer reported that Frogg "wanted to talk with a case worker," according to radio communications logs. SO #1, who assumed command of the operation, made a plan that involved having firefighters spray their hoses at the part of the building where Frogg was, the report said. "It was hoped that the water would, directly or indirectly, whether by distracting [Frogg] or causing him to lose balance, permit the officers an opportunity to safely take [Frogg] into custody," it said. After Frogg was hit with water, he walked away from the spray and off the deck of the building, said the report. "He took three steps in the parking lot in the direction of the firefighters and group of officers, including SO #2, when the officer fired three times," said the report. After the officer shot him, Frogg had bullet wounds in his chest and abdomen, said the report. He was taken to the Lake of the Woods Hospital for surgery but died later that afternoon. SO #1 was investigated for the decision to have firefighters spray water towards Frogg, "which seems to have been the catalyst for his movement off the porch," said Martino in his report. Officers considered using a "less-lethal" weapon, said the report. Radio communication records show they requested an Anti-Riot Weapon ENfield or "ARWEN" multiple times, but none arrived in time, said the report. An ARWEN is a launcher that can shoot items including plastic projectiles, chemical irritants or smoke canisters. Using the available Conducted Energy Weapons (CEWs), commonly referred to as Tasers, or the police dog on scene were ruled out for various reasons, said the report. With these factors considered, Martino said that he did not view SO #1's conduct as meeting the standard of criminal negligence causing death. "There is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case," said Martino.
CTV News
02-07-2025
- CTV News
Police cleared in fatal shooting of man in crisis in northwestern Ont.
An investigation has cleared an Ontario Provincial Police officer who shot and killed a man who had doused himself in gasoline, started a fire at a park office in Kenora and came at first responders holding meat cleavers. An investigation has cleared an Ontario Provincial Police officer who shot and killed a man who had doused himself in gasoline, started a fire at a park office in Kenora and came at first responders holding meat cleavers. The incident began in and around the administration office building at Anicinabe Park just after noon on June 25, 2024. Meat cleaver1 The incident began in and around the administration office building at Anicinabe Park just after noon on June 25, 2024. A man set fire to the park office building and came at police holding meat cleavers. (SIU photos) Ontario's Special Investigations Unit took over the case because someone had been killed during an interaction with police. The man, pushing a shopping cart full of wood, doused himself in gas, poured it on the office building and the wood in the cart. He set the cart on fire and left it beside the building, setting it on fire. He then clutched the two meat cleavers, hollering that no one had helped him. The first OPP officer arrived at 12:05 p.m. and tried to speak with the man. 'He asked him to calm down and drop the knives,' the SIU said in its incident narrative. 'The complainant was extremely upset and waved the machetes in front of him. He said that no one helped him.' 'The complainant was extremely upset and waved the machetes in front of him. He said that no one helped him.' — SIU incident narrative More police arrived in the following minutes, including the canine unit. Firefighters were also quickly on the scene. Police 'continued to talk to the complainant, attempting to have him drop the knives,' the SIU said. 'The complainant refused and challenged the officers to shoot him. He walked back and forth beside the northwest side of the building, the north side of which was ablaze.' An OPP officer who arrived around 12:13 took charge of the situation and devised a plan involving firefighters. 'The details of the plan remain unclear on the evidence, but involved firefighters hosing down the north side of the building with water,' the SIU said. 'It was hoped that the water would, directly or indirectly, whether by distracting the complainant or causing him to lose balance, permit the officers an opportunity to safely take the complainant into custody.' C8 rifle An Ontario Provincial Police officer shot the man three times with his C8 rifle. (SIU photos) However, as firefighters hosed down the building in the area next to the man, he walked off the deck in front of the burning building toward police and firefighters, still holding the meat cleavers. 'He took three steps in the parking lot in the direction of the firefighters and group of officers … when the officer fired three times,' the SIU said. 'The complainant collapsed to the ground. The time was 12:22 p.m.' A short time later, the officer who shot and killed the man was back in his vehicle, taking deep breaths. 'I don't know if that was the right call.' — OPP officer, after the fatal shooting 'I don't know if that was the right call,' he said, in a statement recorded on the camera inside the police vehicle. In his decision, SIU director Joseph Martino wrote that under the circumstances, the officer fired to protect himself and other first responders from an imminent threat. While officers with less lethal weapons (ARWEN) had been called in, they were at a training session and were far from the scene. And there was an imminent threat, he wrote. Expand Autoplay 1 of 5 Burned Park building An investigation has cleared an Ontario Provincial Police officer who shot and killed a man who had doused himself in gasoline, started a fire at a park office in Kenora and came at first responders holding meat cleavers. (SIU photos) Meat cleaver1 The incident began in and around the administration office building at Anicinabe Park just after noon on June 25, 2024. A man set fire to the park office building and came at police holding meat cleavers. (SIU photos) OPP ammo A rifle magazine and ammunition seized at the scene of the shooting is seen in this Special Investigations Unit photo. (SIU photos) C8 rifle An Ontario Provincial Police officer shot the man three times with his C8 rifle. (SIU photos) Meat cleaver 2 The incident began in and around the administration office building at Anicinabe Park just after noon on June 25, 2024. A man set fire to the park office building and came at police holding meat cleavers. (SIU photos) 'Evidence includes the knives in the complainant's hands, his movement in the direction of the officers and firefighters, his proximity to the police and firefighters when the gunfire occurred (and) his volatile behaviour to that point,' Martino wrote. Second thoughts 'In the aftermath of the shooting, (the officer was) expressing second thoughts about what had happened, but indicating he fired his weapon because the complainant was moving towards him and others.' Other officers on the scene said 'they were on the brink of firing their weapons as well when (the officer) discharged the C8 rifle,' Martino wrote. 'There was no reason to believe that the complainant was not then on the precipice of a knife attack on the first responders.' He also analyzed the decision by the lead officer on the scene to try and distract the man using the firehose. While it wasn't successful, Marino said there were no apparent better options. 'None of the officers were equipped with an ARWEN and the nearest one was some distance away … at a training exercise,' Martino said. 'The use of a (stun gun) was also ruled out because it appeared that the complainant had doused himself with a flammable liquid. A police dog was on scene, but the handler … decided against the use of the dog. With the fire continuing to grow, the dog handler was concerned that a dog deployment would place the complainant at greater risk from the blaze.' Unfortunately, the plan using the firehose failed, and it led to the man walking away from the fire and toward the emergency responders, leading to the shooting. 'The officer had a difficult decision to make and not much time in which to make it,' Martino wrote. 'The fire was growing, and the complainant was standing perilously close to it … As all other tactics had failed to that point, and there was some prospect of (the) plan succeeding.' Read the full decision here.
CTV News
29-06-2025
- CTV News
Illegal moose hunters fined $56.5K, suspended for 27 years in northern Ont.
Video captured by a member of of a young moose in the swamp by the TV station on Frood Road in Sudbury. A remote hunting outpost, its former owner and 10 others have been fined a total of $56,500 after pleading guilty to various charges related to illegal moose hunting in northern Ontario. Ontario conservation officers conducted a yearlong investigation between October 2020 and 2021 into illegal moose hunting in a fly-in-only area north of Kenora, including Eagle, Chase and Snowshoe lakes. 'A special investigation was initiated from information received from the public, as well as from previous investigations to address the ongoing issue of illegal moose hunting with allegations of discharging a firearm from a watercraft, using an aircraft while hunting, hunting without a licence and other offences under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act,' Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said in a news release Friday. The individual cases were heard by various justices of the peace in the Ontario Court of Justice in Kenora through 2023 and 2024. Combined, the convicted parties have 27 years of hunting licence suspensions as a result, MNRF said. Fly-in fishing and hunting company 1526085 Ontario Inc., which operates as Walsten Outpost Cabins in Kenora, pleaded guilty to hunting a bull moose without a license and received a $10,000 fine. Former owner Kevin Walsten pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a conservation officer and was fined $3,000. He sold the business in 2022, the company's website said. Three Kenora men, Scott MacIntosh, Russel Canfield and Travis Young, pleaded guilty to charges involving using boats to pursue wildlife and firearms. MacIntosh received the highest fine of the trio, $9,500, and was ordered to retake the hunter education safety course. He is guilty of using a firearm carelessly to hunt. Canfield received a three-year hunting licence suspension, was fined $9,000 and is guilty of hunting a bull moose without a license and having a loaded firearm in a boat. Young was also fined $9,000 and has been suspended from hunting for six years. He is also guilty of hunting a bull moose without a licence and discharging a firearm from a boat as well. Five men from Minnesota were also found guilty. Tim Jones of Burnsville also pleaded guilty to hunting a bull moose without a licence and discharging a firearm from a boat. He was fined $7,000 and suspended from hunting for 10 years. David and Allen Flynn along with Garry Jones Jr. and Sr. pleaded guilty to having an illegally killed bull moose and were each fined $500 and suspended from hunting for two years. Finally, Wayne Heikoop of Powassan and Thomas Shields of Smithville pleaded guilty to discharging firearms from a boat and were each fined $3,500.
CBC
07-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Evacuation order issued for Sandy Lake First Nation as wildfire spreads
An evacuation order was issued on Saturday for Sandy Lake First Nation as a wildfire moved toward the northwestern Ontario community. Sandy Lake officials issued the order after the fire, known as Red Lake 12, was spotted moving northward toward the community in the province's Kenora district. Sandy Lake First Nation, a fly-in community, is located about 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont. Ontario Forest Fires says in a Facebook post that community officials are asking residents to gather at the southeast corner of Sandy Lake, where fire management staff are mobilizing boats. Red Lake 12 has grown to a size of more than 66,000 hectares in the region, and it is not yet under control. Smoke from the fire has pervaded many parts of the province, leading to air quality statements and warnings. The latest information about wildfire activity in Ontario can be found on the province's interactive fire map.
CTV News
25-05-2025
- CTV News
Treaty 3 police, OPP seize $14K in drugs, arrest 2 in northern Ont.
The Treaty Three Police Service along with Ontario Provincial Police seized 144 grams of suspected cocaine, $100 in cash, a cellphone, and other drug trafficking paraphernalia during a proactive traffic stop in Kenora, Ont., following a four month joint investigation. (Treaty Three Police Service/Facebook)
