City fathers are "concerned about the safety of all residents" after a fatal shooting rocked a south-ward neighbourhood in Orillia Thursday afternoon.
A large section of Cochrane Street continues to be closed off Friday as officials from the province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) have descended on the scene to look into what happened. Five investigators and three forensic investigators have been assigned to the case, officials say.
At around 2 p.m. on Thursday, OPP officers responded to a disturbance call at a Barrie Road residence, and located a 26-year-old man believed to be involved in the incident near the intersection of Matchedash Street South and Cochrane Street.
According to an SIU news release, the man had an “edged weapon” and a police officer was stabbed. The police officer shot the suspect and another police officer discharged a “conducted energy weapon,” or taser.
The 26-year-old man was transported to Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Orillia OPP officer was transported to hospital with serious injuries, but is in stable condition.
“I wish them all the best and that they get all the healthcare and support they need to make a full recovery,” Mayor Don McIsaac told OrilliaMatters. “It's very concerning, and … this (type of incident) is just not common at all.”
“We're obviously concerned about the safety of all the residents — it's a difficult situation, and the SIU is involved, so we’ll let them go through their investigation.”
Ralph Cipolla, chair of the Couchiching OPP Detachment Board, expressed his condolences and said it’s a “travesty” this type of incident took place in Orillia.
“From a personal point of view, I think it’s a travesty that these things happen in Orillia, especially when it comes to somebody's life and our police officers who are (forced) to deal with these kinds of crimes,” Cipolla told OrilliaMatters.
“I know it's happening in other municipalities, and I think we as a council and as a police board need to look at how we can make our community safer,” Cipolla said.
The newly established police board, with representatives from Orillia and surrounding townships, will be seeking input from municipal councils about policing priorities moving forward, said Cipolla, a longtime city councillor.
“(We) sent out a letter to all the municipalities to give the three most important things that we need to do in our communities with the police,” he said. “Hopefully, we'll come up with some kind of solutions to be able to make the community safer.”
Cipolla said local crime has become more “pronounced than ever before,” and said he thinks the province needs “to step up and supply more funds to our police.”
In a social media post on X, Simcoe North MP Adam Chambers called the incident “sad and distressing,” and wished the officer a “full recovery.”
“It is sad and distressing to learn of the violence in Orillia that included a police officer suffering serious injuries from a stabbing,” Chambers’s post reads. “We are blessed to have officers and those in uniform who run toward danger to protect our community.”
The SIU did not respond to requests for comment prior to publication of this story.
The SIU conducts criminal investigations into incidents involving police and civilians resulting in serious injury, death, or sexual assault allegations.
“The mandate of the SIU is to maintain confidence in Ontario’s police services by assuring the public that police actions resulting in serious injury, death, or allegations of sexual assault are subjected to rigorous, independent investigations,” states the SIU website.
