Officer in fatal shooting previously charged by SIU
CBC News | Posted: February 1, 2019 6:00 PM | Last Updated: February 1, 2019
Const. Thanh Tran acquitted of assault causing bodily harm in 2011 incident
One of the Ottawa police officers involved in Thursday's fatal shooting at Elmvale Acres mall was previously charged with assault causing bodily harm by Ontario's police watchdog, CBC News has learned.
Just before 8 a.m. Thursday, constables Thanh Tran and Daniel Vincelette responded to report of a "suspicious incident" at the Elmvale Acres Shopping Centre.
Audio from Broadcastify, an online service that provides access to emergency dispatch calls, indicates a man was seen walking into the mall holding a knife in his hand.
The man's family has since identified him as Greg Ritchie, a mentally ill Indigenous man.
An altercation between Ritchie and the officers ensued, and Vincelette was cut in the forehead, sources told CBC News.
Multiple shots were then fired by police, striking Ritchie. The officers and others tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead.
In September 2011, Ontario's Special Investigations Unit charged Tran and another officer with assault causing bodily harm following the arrest of an intoxicated 50-year-old homeless man.
In October 2013, both officers were acquitted in court.