SIU clears officers in self-inflicted death investigation of man in Barrie

Barrie police officers will not face any criminal charges after the province's police watchdog completed an investigation into the self-inflicted death of a man in February. 

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) released its report on the incident on Saturday.

Just after noon on Feb. 4, Barrie police received a 911 call from staff at a grocery store on Blake Street, where a woman had fled from a man's vehicle after he committed "serious and violent" offences against her, according to the media release.

The woman told responding officers that the man was in possession of firearms and grenades.

The SIU said the man's police record described him as "unpredictable."

At around 2 p.m., the man's vehicle was located on Kempenfelt Drive without anyone inside after officers used the woman's phone that she left to track his location. Officers followed marks in the snow leading to a wooded area off the north shore of Kempenfelt Bay, where they found the man holding a shotgun to his head.

The SIU said officers pleaded with the man to drop the gun, but the 35-year-old man shot and killed himself within 15 seconds of the encounter.

The SIU said there were no reasonable grounds to proceed with criminal charges against Barrie police and has ended its investigation into the case.