Three Canadian officers have been charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence and assault.
Canada’s Ontario Provincial Police Officers (OPP) have been accused of shooting the dead 18-month old infant in order to stop a parental kidnapping that occurred two years back.
OPP Constables Nathan Vanderheyden and Kenneth Pengelly were charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence and the Special Investigations Unit announced Wednesday. They’re scheduled to appear in court on October 6.
On November 26, 2020, police received a phone call from Jameson Shapiro’s father claiming that he had taken him hostage at his Kawartha lakes home in Ontario.
The officers spotted the truck of the boy’s father outside Kawartha Lakes and tried to stop it.
According to the SIU, the man drove his car into two police cars and one other vehicle. One of the officers was also hurt when he tried to lay spikes on the road. The three officers then opened fire on the father and son and fired at them both.
The father succumbed to his injuries in hospital, while one-and-half-year-old Jameson was killed on the spot in the back seat.
SIU stated last year that forensic evidence showed that police shot the child.
“When a tragedy such as this occurs, it affects the families, the community and our whole service. It is devastating when an innocent life is lost during an incident,”After the officers were charged, Thomas Carrique was OPP commissioner.
According to the Ontario Provincial Police Association, which represents three of these police officers, it is “fully supporting”The union’s members. The union described the boy’s death as “a tragic circumstance for all involved.”
“Every single day police officers make split-second decisions that most will never have to make and wouldn’t want to make,”The OPPA insisted. “This case is now before the courts. Everyone is entitled to due process.”
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