The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has cleared an officer involved in a shooting in Welland last December, arguing that she could have lost her life if not for the protective equipment she was wearing.
The shooting occurred on Dec. 19 and had an entire neighbourhood under shelter-in-place order, which nearby schools under lockdown and a hospital under a hold-and-secure.
Daniel Tronko is facing more than 20 charges relating to the incident, which lasted for over 24 hours. Tronko fired multiple shots at police and struck one in the chest. That officer was later released with some minor injuries.
According to the SIU report, three officers were initially dispatched to the scene near Plymouth Road and Second Street to stand by while municipal workers tore down a fence in front of a building that had been put up by Tronko. The officers were on scene because of previous threats made to municipal workers, according to the report.
After some of the work had been conducted, Tronko emerged with a loaded revolver in his jacket pocket.
One officer, who is the one that has now been cleared by the SIU, noticed the gun and went to intervene.
“She was no further than about three to five metres from the Complainant when he drew his firearm and fired multiple rounds at the officer,” said the SIU.
All three officers fired their guns at the same time, according to the SIU, and one officer, the one who faced the SIU investigation, struck Tronko before he went inside.
Tronko emerged again on multiple occasions, armed with a long run. He used it to fire shots at the heavy equipment on scene that had been used to remove the fence. Additional shots were fired in the direction of the police, who returned fire.
After a lengthy standoff, which continued into the next day, Tronko was finally arrested.
Both Tronko and the officer he shot were taken to hospital.
The SIU report said the officer would have been “grievously injured or killed but for the protection of her ballistic vest.”
Therefore, the SIU report cleared the officer.
“Lesser force was not an option at the time given the distance that separated the parties. Nor was less-lethal force as capable as lethal force of meeting the exigencies of the moment, that is, the Complainant’s immediate incapacitation.”
Tronko is now facing charges that include more than half a dozen counts of attempted murder.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
