SIU to interview 19 people after man was fatally shot in Hamilton by Halton police officer
Published September 14, 2022 at 2:34 pm
The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says up to 19 people will be interviewed about the circumstances surrounding the shooting death of a 40-year-old man in Hamilton after he allegedly killed two people.
The SIU would not release the man’s name, but The Canadian Press has identified him as Sean Petrie, citing sources close to the investigation who aren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Petrie, who reportedly has an extensive criminal record, was accused of killing a Toronto police officer as he had lunch at a Mississauga Tim Hortons and a Milton auto repair shop owner.
The SIU has requested interviews with two subject officials and seven witness officials from the Hamilton Police Service. Two subject officials and ten witness officials from Halton Regional Police Service have also been designated.
Subject officials are invited but not compelled to present themselves for an interview with the SIU, nor do they have to submit their notes. Once an officer becomes the focus of an investigation and is under criminal jeopardy, they are granted the same rights as any citizen under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect themselves from self-incrimination.
Parole Board of Canada documents indicate that Petrie, the man accused in Monday afternoon’s deadly shootings in the Meadowvale area of north Mississauga and then about 40 minutes later in Milton, had a history of robbery, drug trafficking, and weapon possession, as well as gang ties at one point.
Videos
A couple of hours after Toronto Police Const. Andrew Hong, 48, was shot “execution-style” from behind just after 2 p.m. as he sat alone at a table inside a Tim Hortons near Argentia Rd. and Winston Churchill Blvd.; the suspected gunman was shot to death during an exchange with Halton Regional Police in Hamilton.
In between those two incidents, Shakeel Ashraf, 38, a father of two and owner of MK Auto Repairs in Milton, was shot and killed at his place of business near Bronte Rd. S. and Main St.
The SIU has said four police officers shot at Petrie, who died after a confrontation late Monday afternoon at a Hamilton cemetery on York Blvd.
Parole Board of Canada documents say Petrie was banned from parts of northwest Toronto after he was released from prison in 2010.
Hong, a 22-year veteran of the force and father of two, was ambushed inside the coffee shop while on a break from a police motorcycle training course nearby.
According to reports, the shooter tried unsuccessfully to take the slain officer’s gun from his belt before stealing a Jeep Cherokee and fleeing the scene.
The shooting of Hong and another victim at the Tim Hortons who’s said to have suffered “life-altering injuries” quickly set in motion a police manhunt across the GTA and into Hamilton.
Less than an hour after the Mississauga shooting, authorities believe the same gunman showed up at the Milton auto repair shop, where he shot three other people, including Ashraf.
The suspect quickly fled the Milton scene and eventually wound up in Hamilton, where he was shot and killed by police during an attempted arrest.
Hong, remembered by friends and colleagues as a “gentle giant,” was participating in a training exercise along with other motorcycle officers when the group decided to take a lunch break.
It’s unknown where his colleagues chose to have lunch, but the Toronto Police officer wound up alone at Tim Hortons.
In a press conference Monday night, Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah described the fatal shooting as an “ambush attack” that was unprovoked.
Peel police are now coordinating a multi-jurisdictional investigation into the shootings, which left two people dead and three injured.
The SIU will consider whether the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation depending on the evidence.
–with files by The Canadian Press
insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising