A 36-year-old man is dead after a police-involved shooting outside a GO Transit station in Hamilton late Friday night.
According to the Special Investigations Unit, officers were initially dispatched to a bar on Catharine Street North at around 11 p.m. for a report of an assault that had occurred outside.
The SIU says that police received information at that point indicating that a suspect in the assault was armed with a gun. At around the same time, the SIU says that an officer then spotted a man believed to be involved in the assault walking in the middle of James Street near the GO station.
That man was shot during an interaction with the officer, the SIU says. He was rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries upon arrival. It is not immediately clear how many shots were fired, however the SIU says that it was more than one.
The SIU has assigned seven investigators and three forensic investigators to the case.
“At the moment all I can tell you is that one of the officers who attended here on James Street recognized the man, had an interaction with the man and then shots were discharged,” SIU spokesperson Jason Gennaro told CP24 on Saturday morning. “Preliminary reports were that the man was armed with a weapon, however to get into specifics about what took place during the interaction is not something we can do at this point. That is part of our investigation.”
Genaro said that the SIU has designated one subject officer and eight witness officers as part of their investigation.
Right now, Genaro said that investigators are busy combing the scene for evidence and canvassing the surrounding area for witnesses and surveillance camera footage.
The SIU is also looking to speak with several people who were on board a bus on James Street at the time and several others who were seen walking on the east side of James Street.
“We are asking any witnesses who may have seen what happened or may have information about what happened to come forward,” Gennaro said.
GO Transit says that its Hamilton station is closed due to the ongoing investigation. GO Transit buses are boarding and exiting at John Street while the station is closed.
The SIU is an arms-length agency that investigates any interaction between an Ontario police officer and a member of the public that results in death, serious injury or an allegation of sexual assault.
