A woman is dead after being struck by a police cruiser escorting a funeral procession in the city’s west end.
It happened near Highway 27 and Rexdale Boulevard at around 12:45 p.m.
According to one witness, about 60 people were travelling in the procession at the time.
About half of them were unable to remove their vehicles following the accident and remained on scene while 73-year-old Roland Fletcher was laid to rest at nearby Glenview Memorial Gardens.
The investigation into the accident is being handled by Ontario's Special Investigations Unit.
The SIU is an arm's-length provincial agency called in to investigate whenever a civilian is killed or seriously hurt while interacting with police.
“It’s a tragic situation in every way possible,” Carlton Brown, who was travelling in the procession, told CP24 at the scene. “Fortunately the family is strong, they are holding together and we are trying to move on.”
Brown, who will marry Fletcher’s daughter next Sunday, was travelling near the front of the procession when the accident happened.
He told CP24 that he witnessed the woman being struck through his rear view mirror and immediately slammed on his brakes and exited his vehicle to check on her, however she was unresponsive.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I saw her basically flip in the air and fall behind my car,” he said. “I assume she hit her head on the ground.”
According to a news release, the SIU has assigned six investigators, three forensic investigators and a collision reconstructionist to the case.
Speaking with reporters Saturday evening Frank Phillips of the SIU said eight witnesses have already been interviewed.
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