SIU clears 2 Hamilton police officers after man shot dead at Cannon Street plaza

Two Hamilton police officers who killed a man outside a Cannon Street convenience store last summer have been cleared by the province's Special Investigations Unit.

A release issued Wednesday afternoon says SIU director Joseph Martino "has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the subject officers committed a criminal offence in connection with the man's death." The investigation found the man fired a shotgun before he was shot by police, the report says.

The SIU does not identify the man, but family have confirmed that he was 42-year-old Jason Peterson.

The shooting took place July 7, 2020. A woman called police at about 3:30 p.m. that day to report that her ex-boyfriend was armed with a sawed-off shotgun and holding her hostage at her home on Ottawa Street North, the SIU report says.

"She further reported that the complainant was … saying he wanted to die at the hands of the police," said the Wednesday report from the SIU. 

Police had already connected the man with a stolen Buick, the report says, which officers found at about 4 p.m at the plaza at the corner of Cannon Street East and Gage Avenue North.

Police blocked the vehicle and approached its occupants. Peterson was in the passenger seat of the Buick, the SIU says.

"While the driver was being pulled from the vehicle, two officers discharged their firearms, striking the complainant," the report said. "The complainant was transported to Hamilton General Hospital, where he remained at the time of notification in critical condition in the intensive care unit."

Peterson died of his injuries later that day.

Subject officers declined to participate

The SIU investigates police interactions that result in death, serious injury, sexual assault or shooting at someone. Its investigation eliminated eight out of 11 identified witnesses and six witness officers.

But the two "subject officers" at the heart of the complaint declined to be interviewed or provide their notes.

One of the witnesses who declined an interview was in the driver's seat of the vehicle just before the shooting, according to the SIU report.

In addition to numerous witnesses, there were also four surveillance cameras nearby that captured various parts of the incident. 

The "incident narrative" created by SIU investigators says police found the suspect was "the front-seat passenger in a Buick Allure. The vehicle was parked facing north in the lot of the Corner's Variety store… The men had just returned from the variety store having purchased various merchandise. Unknown to them at the time, they had been followed to the location by plainclothes police officers in an unmarked vehicle."

Officers surprised the group in the Buick with guns drawn, the report says. One of the police officers opened the driver's side door and seized the driver's arm, then they heard a loud bang from within the car — "the sound of the complainant firing his shotgun in the direction" of one of the officers, the report said. 

Daughter called for justice

"Immediately after the shotgun blast, (subject officer) #1 and (subject officer) #2 each fired a single round at the complainant. (subject officer) #2's shot struck the back of the complainant's head and was instantly incapacitating. (Subject officer) #1's shot struck the top of the complainant's head. Fragments from one or both of these projectiles appear to have inflicted other injuries, including to the left upper arm," the report says.

"The complainant was found in the passenger seat still holding the shotgun on his lap, pointed in the direction of the driver's seat. He was taken from the Buick and provided CPR until paramedics arrived on scene and took over his care."

Peterson's daughter, Mackenzie, spoke out against the shooting at a press conference last summer. She said she thought the officers were "shooting to kill."

"Aren't police trained to not kill? Aren't they trained to serve and protect? If that is true, why was he shot in the back of the head? Why was pulling their guns their first option when they had many other ways to detain him?" 

"When you're shot in the back of the head, there's no saving you."