Ontario’s police oversight body is looking into a case where an officer reportedly shot and killed a man in a courthouse situated in a remote area of northern Ontario on Thursday. Kristy Denette, a representative for the Special Investigations Unit, mentioned that a team of investigators was en route to the incident in Wapekeka First Nation, but further information would only be disclosed on Friday. The Ontario Provincial Police confirmed that an officer from the Sioux Lookout detachment shot an individual armed with a knife at Wapekeka First Nation around noon, leading to the individual being pronounced dead at the scene.
Karen Seeley, an attorney from a law firm in Dryden, Ontario, shared that she learned about the incident from colleagues who were present at a makeshift courtroom in a community center. Witnesses recounted a person entering the courtroom and brandishing what seemed to be a knife before being shot by an officer. Seeley, a seasoned lawyer in northern Ontario, expressed her shock at the unprecedented nature of the event, noting that nothing similar had occurred to her knowledge before, leaving both her colleagues and the community deeply disturbed.
The Wapekeka courthouse, known for offering a limited range of court services on specific dates at its fly-in location, lacks metal detectors, similar to many other courts in the northern regions of the province.