Const. Devon Northrup, left, and Const. Morgan Russell in South Simcoe Police Service handout photos.The Canadian Press
A gunman who killed two officers before turning a rifle on himself had “waited in ambush” for police to arrive at his home, Ontario’s police watchdog said as it cleared a third officer of any wrongdoing in the case.
The Special Investigations Unit issued a report Wednesday that concluded the third officer had done nothing wrong when he exchanged shots with the gunman during the October shooting that took place at a home in Innisfil, Ont.
SIU director Joseph Martino concluded it was “imperative” the third officer from South Simcoe Police do what he could to stop the 22-year-old from continuing to fire after Const. Devon Northrup and Const. Morgan Russell had been shot.
“The force used by the officer … might well have saved his own life, as well as those of the (the gunman’s) family members, who were nearby at the time,” Martino wrote in his report.
The SIU is called in to investigate when police conduct may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
South Simcoe Police Chief John Van Dyke said he was “relieved” the SIU process was over, and the watchdog had found the officer’s actions were “legally justified.”
“Of course, no investigation can ever bring back our beloved fallen officers, Morgan Russell and Devon Northrup, but at least we can now close one chapter of this tragedy,” he wrote in a statement after the SIU report was released.
Russell, a father of two, was a 33-year veteran of the police force. The 54-year-old was a trained crisis negotiator assigned to uniform patrol, the police service said.
Northrup, 33, was a member of the mental health crisis outreach team and the emergency response unit. The six-year member of the force was given an Excellence in Emergency award in 2020 for his role in helping a person in crisis.
A source close to the investigation had previously identified the gunman in the case as Chris Doncaster. The Department of National Defence confirmed a man by the same name was a Canadian Armed Forces member from May to December 2020 who did not complete basic training and had no deployment history.
All names are withheld in the SIU report.
The three South Simcoe Police officers responded on Oct. 11 after a woman called police asking them to remove a family member from the home who had broken her eyeglasses and punched a hole in the wall, the SIU report said.
Her husband and the family member were the only other ones in the house at the time, she told the police operator. Although she said no weapons were involved when asked by the operator, the gunman had access to a rifle in a gun safe in his basement bedroom, the report said.
Northrup and Russell were shot not long after they entered the home when the gunman, who was in the basement, fired up the stairs at them, the SIU said. The officers had not drawn their weapons before being hit, it said.
“While wearing a ballistic vest, the (gunman) had waited in ambush for the police officers to arrive at his residence and then fired at the officers multiple times,” the SIU report said.
“The officers were clearly under attack at the time that the (third officer) drew his weapon and returned fire down the stairs into the basement.”
The third officer, “firing blind to an extent,” shot 12 to 14 rounds down the basement stairs, the report said. As he paused to reload, he shouted “Police!” Not hearing a response, he looked into the basement to see the bloodied gunman on his back with a gun in his hands.
The gunman, armed with an SKS semi-automatic rifle, had shot himself in the head, the SIU report said.
The third officer’s use of force did not kill the 22-year-old, the SIU concluded, but appeared to have caused a graze wound to the gunman’s lower left leg.
“I am satisfied that the (third officer) comported himself lawfully throughout his engagement with the (gunman),” Martino concluded.