NEWS RELEASE
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT
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The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death this morning of a man in St. Catharines.
Preliminary information suggests the following:
At approximately 6:15 a.m. on January 19, 2019, 911 received a call regarding a man sitting on the Burgoyne Bridge at St. Paul Street West in St. Catharines.
Soon after a Niagara Regional Police Service officer arrived on scene, the man went over the bridge and landed on Highway 406 below.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Four investigators and one forensic investigator have been assigned to this investigation. The post-mortem is scheduled for Monday.
The SIU is urging anyone who may have information about this investigation to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529. The unit is also urging anyone who may have any video evidence related to this incident to upload that video through the SIU website.
The SIU is an arm’s-length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault. Under the Police Services Act, the director of the SIU must consider whether an officer has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation; depending on the evidence, lay a criminal charge against the officer if appropriate or close the file without any charges being laid; report the results of any investigations to the attorney general.
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