Ontario’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU), a civilian agency that investigates police-involved deaths, has concluded its investigation into the self-inflicted death of a 62-year-old man in Hamilton on August 1, 2025, and determined Hamilton Police (HPS) acted in accordance with protocol and regulations in responding to the incident.
SIU Director Joseph Martino determined that the police operation was executed in a “professional fashion,” with officers making “best efforts” to resolve the incident peacefully.
The eight-plus hour standoff began when the man called 911, claiming to be heavily armed with multiple rifles and to have set up an improvised explosive device (IED) and tripwires inside his residence near Sherman Avenue North and Barton Street East. He also reported having attempted to kidnap his landlord.
The HPS Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and a trained negotiator were deployed. A police communications call-taker maintained phone communication with the man for about two-and-a-half hours after the first 911 call came in, before the man agreed to speak with the negotiator. The negotiator maintained contact with the man for over five hours, in what the SIU described as “a concerted effort to have him surrender.”
The man “spoke repeatedly about ending his own life. At approximately 3:58 p.m., a single gunshot was heard from within the residence.”
Director Martino specifically noted that the HPS’s subsequent delay in entering the home was “prudent in the circumstances,” as they had good reason to believe the man’s warnings about the IED and tripwires. HPS used a drone and a robot to enter and dismantle an explosive device (a crock pot filled with gunpowder) before entering the residence with paramedics. The man was found deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The Director found “no question of any want of care on the part of the police.”
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: November 30, 2025
Last updated: November 30, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version