Three Canadian police officers charged with manslaughter over death of toddler during shooting

Eighteen-month-old Jameson Shapiro died instantly after the shooting

Representational image: A police car in Ontario, Canada (AFP via Getty Images)

An independent federal Canadian law enforcement agency on Wednesday charged three police officers with manslaughter for the death of an 18-month-old boy.

The incident dates back to 26 November 2020 when police shot at the boy’s father in his pickup truck after he allegedly abducted the toddler.

The child, identified by Canada’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU) as Jameson Shapiro, died instantly, while the father, who was not identified, died from gunshot wounds about a week later on 2 December.

Police officers Nathan Vanderheyden, Kenneth Pengelly and Grayson Cappus have been charged on one count each of manslaughter and criminal negligence.

The SIU had released an account of the shooting which said police had responded to the case of a father abducting his son from the Trent Lakes municipality when they located the vehicle of interest on Sturgeon Road in the Kawartha Lakes city.

“An interaction ensued between the 33-year-old vehicle driver and officers and three officers discharged their firearms,” said the report adding that the driver was “airlifted to the hospital in grave condition” while the child in the pickup truck was pronounced dead at the scene.

“The Director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Joseph Martino, has reasonable grounds to believe that three Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers committed criminal offences in relation to the death of 18-month-old Jameson Shapiro,” said the agency in a statement.

“As a result, Director Martino has caused charges to be laid against each of the officers,” it further said and added that no further comments will be made as the matter is now pending before the court.

The officers are to appear before the court in Lindsay, Ontario on 6 October.

Police earlier said investigators had collected four guns from the scene – three of which belonged to the officers while one was found near the father’s pickup truck.

Extending sympathies to the family, OPP commissioner Thomas Carrique said it is “devastative when an innocent life is lost during an incident”.

Rob Stinson, president of the OPP association union which represents about 10,000 OPP officials, issued a statement calling the incident “a tragic circumstance for all involved”.

In the statement, Mr Stinson also confirmed “fully supporting” the charged members. “We are fully supporting our members charged and our officers and civilian staff affected, with some still off work,” it said.

“It has impacted many people, families, first responders, and our members. Every single day police officers make split-second decisions that most will never have to make and wouldn’t want to make,” wrote Mr Stinson.