Beau Baker shooting death 'legally justified,' says SIU

Ontario's police watchdog is calling the fatal police shooting of Beau Baker "legally justified," saying "there are no reasonable grounds" to charge the Waterloo Regional Police officer who fired seven shots at the 20-year-old Kitchener man the night he died. 

"I am satisifed that the officer's apprehensions and his course of conduct were reasonable," Special Investigations Unit Director Tony Laparco wrote. "There are therefore no grounds to believe he committed a criminal offence." 

The Tuesday announcement by the Special Investigations Unit is the first clear glimpse into what really happened more than six months ago, when police arrived outside Baker's apartment building at 77 Brybeck Cresc. in Kitchener on the night of April 2nd, 2015. 

Baker made a number of violent threats over the phone earlier that evening, according to the SIU, threatening to kill himself and hurt others with a knife, including police, paramedics and a passerby. 

The SIU says Baker also gave the 911 operator an ominous warning: that he wouldn't surrender his weapon to police without a fight. 

Standoff with police

The first officer arrived on scene with that mind, according to investigators, who say it didn't take long for the policeman to find Baker waiting on the landing beside the front entrance of the apartment building. 

When the officer asked what Baker was holding in his right hand, the SIU says, he lifted it, revealing the gleam of a knife with an eight centimetre blade. 

Investigators say the officer drew his gun, pointed it at Baker, promising that he intended to help the 20-year-old, not hurt him. 

Baker was ordered to lie on the ground by the officer several times during the standoff, according to the SIU report, but Baker refused to follow the policeman's instructions. 

Withdrawal was not an option- SIU Director Tony Loparco 

A crowd of about 20 people had gathered at that point and the witness closest to the confrontation told SIU investigators, "that Mr. Baker expressly told the subject officer that he was going to stab the constable in the face."

The standoff came to an abrupt end when Baker quickly lunged at the officer with a knife. The policeman stepped backwards before firing at Baker seven times.

The fatal bullet, according to the SIU, entered Baker's mid-abdomen and severed his aorta, the body's main artery. Baker then slumped to his knees and fell onto his back, following the gunfire.

The officer then rushed to Baker's side, applying pressure to his wounds and attempted to resuscitate Baker when it appeared he lost vital signs.

Once paramedics arrived, the SIU says Baker was rushed to hospital where he was declared dead at 10:10 p.m. on April 2nd.

The SIU says it reconstructed the chain of events leading up to the fatal shooting through the testimony of the officer who shot Baker as well as the nine police officers and 21 civilians who were there when the 20-year-old was killed. 

The SIU recognizes that Baker was having a mental health crisis the night he died, but that the officers' actions were justified, given the threat made by Baker to hurt other people.

"Withdrawal was not an option," SIU Director Tony Loparco wrote of the police officer's actions that night. "Mr. Baker had also threatened to hurt others and the officer had to be concerned that he might make good on those threats if given an opportunity."