SIU clears police of wrongdoing in shootout with Toronto cop killer

Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared officers of wrongdoing following a shootout in September with a gunman who killed three people, including a Toronto police officer.

The Special Investigations Unit says the officers’ use of force in an exchange of gunfire with the 40-year-old suspect in a Hamilton cemetery was justified given the circumstances.

The watchdog says the suspect was armed with a pistol, carrying a plastic bag with extra ammunition and wearing a ballistic vest capable of stopping bullets used in some police weapons.

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The deadly rampage began on Sept. 12 at a Tim Hortons in Mississauga where the suspect, 40-year-old Sean Petrie, fatally shot Toronto police Const. Andrew Hong.

Petrie then left the scene in a stolen black Jeep and made his way to MK Auto Repairs in Milton where he shot three people, killing owner Shakeel Ashraf and injuring two others.

One of the injured victims, identified at 28-year-old Satwinder Singh, later died in hospital. Singh was an international student from India who was working part-time at the auto body shop at the time of the shooting.

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Investigators said Petrie had worked at the auto shop for a short period of time.

Petrie fled the scene and was later found in a Hamilton cemetery where he was shot dead in an exchange of gunfire with officers from both Hamilton and Halton police.

The chief of Peel Regional Police said Petrie had an extensive criminal record, including convictions for assault and weapons offences. In 2007, Petrie was placed on a national flagging system as someone with a high risk to reoffend.

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