SIU called after incident that closed Highway 11 for 12 hours

A domestic dispute that led to the 12-hour closure of the Trans-Canada Highway has been settled and the provincial police station was called after an officer fired his weapon.

Yesterday (September 20) at approximately 8:30 p.m., the OPP responded to a call on Elaine Street in Smooth Rock Falls.

During the investigation, police say an altercation occurred between an officer and a person on Highway 11, about five kilometers east of Moonbeam. The road was closed for about 12 hours and reopened around 10 a.m. this morning.

The mandate of the Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was invoked.

The SIU is an independent agency that investigates police-involved incidents involving death, serious injury, allegations of sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

The SIU has released a preliminary incident report.

It states that police responded to a domestic dispute and the man left the residence in the vehicle before police arrived.

As police attempted to stop the vehicle and block it on Highway 11 east of Moonbeam, the man drove into the police vehicle. An officer fired at the vehicle and the man fled on foot. The man was not injured by the firearm.

Today at around 2 p.m. a person was taken into police custody.

The investigation is ongoing and involves the OPP's Emergency Response Team (ERT), canine unit, crime unit and forensic identification services.

Because the SIU is involved, the OPP says it will not release any further information.

Three SIU investigators and two forensic experts are assigned to the case.