Ontario police watchdog investigating after 2nd woman falls to death from balcony in 10 days
Woman, 34, died in hospital early Wednesday morning, SIU says
Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after a woman fell to her death from a balcony in Toronto on Wednesday after interacting with police — the second such incident to happen in less than 10 days.
Toronto police responded to a call about a person standing on a balcony railing around 10:50 p.m. near King Street W. and Spadina Avenue, according to a news release from the province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU.)
Multiple callers said "someone was putting their whole body over a balcony," Toronto police Const. Laura Brabant said in an email.
Officers attempted to communicate with the woman, 34, and she fell moments later, the SIU release says. The woman was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead early Wednesday morning.
A post-mortem is scheduled for Thursday, the SIU said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the SIU.
Other incident happened Jan. 13
On Jan. 13, the SIU invoked its mandate after a 44-year-old woman fell and died from her apartment balcony shortly after interacting with Toronto police.
Officers went to the apartment, located on High Park Avenue in the city's west end, looking for a wanted person, the SIU said at the time.
Police spoke with the woman at the apartment. She then tried to scale down her balcony, the SIU said. She fell and was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
There is no information to suggest the two incidents are connected.
The Jan. 13 incident happened at the same building where Regis Korchinski-Paquet, 29, died after falling from a balcony during an interaction with police in 2020. The SIU investigation cleared the officers in that case.