TIMMINS - A report has cleared police of wrongdoing in an incident that saw an officer shot in the neck on a Timmins lake while searching for a murder suspect who had been on the run for weeks.
The Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report released Nov. 6 shines more light on what happened on June 12 in the east end of Timmins. The report from director Joseph Martino finds no basis for criminal charges against the OPP officers involved.
In the reasoning for the decision, Martino said the officers fired at the suspect to defend themselves and their colleagues from a "reasonably apprehended attack."
The five officers involved, says the director, only fired their weapons after they were shot at.
"Even following the initial exchange of gunfire, when it seems (tactical response unit) officers continued to fire after the complainant had stopped, it would appear their force was defensive in nature. The complainant was concealed on a heavily-wooded island and, as far as the officers would have been understandably concerned, still a real and present danger."
It all started 25 days earlier.
On May 18, 30-year-old Marcel Thoma was reported missing. Five days later, on May 23, his body was found in a wooded area in Egan Township, southwest of Matheson.
In the weeks that followed, there was a massive manhunt for 43-year-old Lucas MacDonald of Egan Township, who was wanted on several breach of recognizance warrants and was a person of interest in the murder investigation. He has since been charged with first-degree murder and attempt to commit murder using a firearm.
RELATED: Murder, attempted murder charges laid after Timmins manhunt
OPP units from across the province were deployed to the area to help with the search, which also involved the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The search ended on June 12 on a small island west of Moose Island on Night Hawk Lake.
Because officers fired their guns while arresting MacDonald, the Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU) invoked its mandate.
The SIU is an arms-length agency that investigates police-involved incidents where there has been a death, serious injury, allegations of sexual assault, or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
On June 12, the SIU report says that MacDonald was seen in the area of Kettle Lakes Provincial Park, which had been closed to the public because of the manhunt.
He was seen getting into a canoe on Night Hawk Lake, which is located south of the provincial park. He was armed with a .22 calibre rifle and at one point went to shore near a camp on the southwest side of the lake.
A resident was suspicious of a lone man in a canoe in bad lake conditions and called police.
A helicopter went to the camp area and the SIU says that MacDonald shot at the helicopter. This was at 11:48 a.m.
Two officers were dropped off at the camp to talk to the owner, who brought them to meet the OPP-operated boats on the lake.
At this point, the SIU says MacDonald was heading to the small island west of Moose Island.
The OPP's plan was to go around the island from a distance and contain MacDonald on the island while more police resources were brought in.
When the engine of one of the police boats stopped working, it started floating towards the island. Officers in the second OPP boat went to help and as they were working on the dead engine, an officer in the boat with the dead engine was shot in the neck by the suspect.
The SIU doesn't know how many shots MacDonald fired in total. Five spent cartridges were found on the island. The gun was recovered by divers.
Officers in the boats fired back and the SIU says the "shooting continued for a period" while the boat with the dead engine was towed a safe distance from the island. The injured officer was brought to a crop of rocks and airlifted out of the area.
The remaining officers held a position about 300 metres east of the island.
"Some time passed and an officer exclaimed something to the effect of, 'Gun. He has something in his hands,'" reads the report.
An officer fired two shots.
MacDonald paddled his canoe to where the officers were and as he approached "he held the paddle above his head as if he was surrendering."
The officers approached the canoe on the water, boarded the canoe and arrested MacDonald.
"“I hope your buddy’s okay, by the way, I didn’t mean to hit him," showed in-car camera footage once back on land around 2 p.m.
Read the full break down of the SIU report here.
