SIU clears officer in death of man at Niagara Falls waterfall

Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared a Niagara Parks Police Service officer in the death of a man at the Niagara Falls waterfall earlier this year.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says two Niagara Parks Police Service officers briefly spoke with a 38-year-old man near the walkway outside the Table Rock Centre on Niagara Pkwy. during the afternoon of June 20.

The SIU says the man quickly climbed over the fence, entered the Niagara River, and was swept down the waterfall. Six days later, his body was recovered at the Queenston docks.

SIU director Joseph Martino determined the officer was still metres away from the man before he fell, concluding that there was “simply no opportunity” to have prevented the tragedy.