An Ontario Provincial Police patch is seen in Ottawa, on Sunday, Sept. 29.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Ontario’s police watchdog and the provincial force have both launched investigations following the deaths of two women and one man in Huntsville, Ont.
Both the Ontario Provincial Police and the Special Investigations Unit say officers were called to a local home at 9 p.m. on Friday after a man barricaded himself inside.
The SIU says the man told police he had harmed two family members and had unspecified weapons on hand.
The watchdog says the OPP deployed crisis negotiators to the home and made contact with the man by phone but when communication stopped, they sent a drone into the residence and found the three bodies inside.
The SIU says it has invoked its mandate to investigate the man’s death, as it handles cases involving police in which someone is killed or injured.
The OPP offered few details of its own ongoing investigation, citing the active SIU probe, but says there is no current threat to public safety.