An Ontario coroner’s jury has come up with four recommendations following an April 2021 incident where OPP shot 43 year-0ld Dominick Martorino dead near Castleton.
The Special Investigations Unit examined the circumstances of the shooting incident, clearing both officers of any wrongdoing.
Martorino was shot and killed by provincial police officers on April 6 on County Road 25 near Bonnet Road following a complaint that he was driving erratically.
An SIU investigation concluded that Martorino advanced on officers with a baseball bat, striking a police cruiser windshield. During the incident, it’s alleged that Martorino drove his pickup truck towards officers, who took evasive action to avoid a collision.
Officers eventually rammed the truck, and with Martorino attempting to exit through the passenger side of the truck, police discharged their weapons, striking him five times.
The SIU report noted that Martorino “was of unsound mind at the time of these unfortunate events, the result of mental illness. Though the officers appear to have been aware of this fact, it does not appear that there was ever a real opportunity to bring mental health interventions to bear, were they available, given how quickly events escalated.” The SUI concluded the use of force was justified.
Below are the coroner’s jury recommendations according to Today’s Northumberland.
1. Consider providing enhanced training to frontline officers on critical incident response. This training
should be directed at equipping frontline officers with enhanced skills to respond to high-risk scenarios
while waiting for a critical incident commander to arrive on scene.
2. Consider implementing a system establishing a scene commander at scenes which involve multiple
responding units, ensuring that all responding personnel are aware of and adhere to command
structure to promote effective coordinated and controlled responses.
3. Consider implementing a system to indicate the date or age of a flag that has been entered on the OPP
records management system.
4. Complete implementation of the Mental Health Crisis Response training required by the Community
Safety and Policing Act and its regulations.
