In a news release, the South Simcoe Police Service said officers responded to a call at a home near 25th Sideroad and 9th Line shortly before 8pm on Tuesday. According to police, two officers were shot while inside the home. A suspect was also shot and killed. Police have not said why the initial call was made. The city of Innisfil is located just south of Barrie and is home to more than 43,300 people. Officers were called to a home on a tree-lined residential street near Lake Simcoe. Both officers were rushed to a local hospital, where one died. Police say the second officer was later flown to Toronto in critical condition. Shortly after 7:30 a.m., police announced that the second officer had also died.
Neighbors were shaken by gunfire
Michele Bannister has lived on the street for 26 years. He told CBC News that a couple lived in the home where the shooting happened with their grown grandchildren. Bannister described the couple as “very nice people”. She says the 23-year-old man shot by police was their grandson. “We’re heartbroken,” said Bannister, who was watching TV with her daughter Brelyn when they first heard the sirens. Both mother and daughter said they saw the man’s older sister – who had previously run away – on Tuesday night, shouting “that’s my brother”. “It was like something out of a movie,” Brelin said. SIU at the scene of a fatal police collision in Innisfil, Ont., Wednesday morning. (Clara Pasieka/CBC NEWS) Kevin, a neighbor who CBC News agreed to identify only by his first name due to privacy concerns, said he initially thought he heard fireworks Tuesday night before realizing it was actually half a dozen shots. “I went outside … and it was pandemonium,” he said. Kevin says he saw police officers tending to injured people and watched as those people were taken off the road in ambulances. “It was quite traumatic,” he said, noting that the street is usually “very safe … everyone looks out for each other. “It’s going to be hard for our little community here,” he said. “Everybody will be crushed.”
SIU, York Regional Police investigating
The South Simcoe Police Service news release says the Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is now investigating, which happens when a person is seriously injured or killed as a result of a police interaction. In a press release, Ontario police said they have assigned a total of nine investigators to the case. The SIU said that according to preliminary information, officers were called to a home “for a disturbance.” They exchanged fire with a 23-year-old man, who died at the scene, the press release said. York Regional Police are also investigating the shooting of the two officers. South Simcoe Chief John Van Dyke is expected to address the media at 1pm ET. The two South Simcoe police officers are the third and fourth police officers killed in the province in the past month. On September 12, Toronto Police. Andrew Hong was killed in what police called an “ambush” during a shooting spree that killed two others and wounded three others. On Sept. 14, York Regional Police Const. Travis Gillespie died at the scene of a head-on crash. Both constables were laid to rest late last month. In a tweet, Premier Doug Ford said he was “hurt” by the news. “We are praying for the families of the officers and all the police officers who put their lives on the line to protect our communities,” he said. Across the province, first responders also took to social media to express their condolences. Police gather outside the coroner’s office following news that two officers were killed after responding to a call in Innisfil, Ont. (Christopher Mulligan/CBC News) “My deepest condolences to the families of these two fallen officers,” wrote Toronto Police Chief James Ramer. “The thoughts of OPP members are with the families,” wrote OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique. Peel police offered their condolences “with a heavy heart,” while Paul Raftis, head of Toronto Paramedic Services, said “the hearts of its members go out to all those affected by the tragic events that took place last night.”
