Man and woman who fell from 8-storey apartment were trying to evade police: SIU

The fall from an eighth floor apartment unit that killed a woman and seriously injured her boyfriend in Burlington, Ont., took place after the pair tried to escape Halton police, according to Ontario's police watchdog.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has concluded the officers involved did nothing wrong.

On July 7, officers received a call about someone brandishing a handgun in an apartment on Ghent Avenue, according to the SIU's report on the incident.

At roughly 9:50 p.m., the man and woman were in their apartment with three other acquaintances when police started banging on the door and calling out for them, reads the report.

The SIU says the woman "panicked" and planned on climbing down the balcony.

At roughly 10:12 p.m., police learned the woman fell onto someone's balcony and when officers arrived, a resident was giving her emergency first aid.

Officers tried to give her CPR but she was pronounced dead at the scene, the SIU says.

At 10:16 p.m., her boyfriend also fell on the balcony as officers were entering the eighth floor apartment unit. He was taken to hospital and treated for a brain bleed, among other injuries.

SIU director Joseph Martino said in his analysis the police response in this case "seems reasonable in the circumstances given the dangers inherent in a gun call."