Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says there is “no basis” to charge police officers in the death of 57-year-old Bruce Wallace Frogg.
Frogg was shot and killed by an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer in Kenora during an incident at Anicinabe Park on June 25, 2024, Ontario’s police watchdog said in its report released Friday.
Video footage from the cellphone of witnesses and a police cruiser camera showed Frogg holding two knives and walking toward the officers, said the SIU report.
An OPP officer shot Frogg with a rifle from a distance of six to eight metres, the report said.
After shooting Frogg, the officer sat in down in his police vehicle, where video footage captured him taking deep breaths and saying, “I don’t know if that was the right call,” according to the report.
SIU director Joseph Martino said in his decision that he was satisfied the officer, referred to in the report as Subject Officer (SO) #2, used a reasonable amount of force in defence of himself and the other people present.
“Nothing short of gunfire had the immediate stopping power required of the moment,” said Martino.
The SIU investigated the conduct of both SO #2, who shot Frogg, and an officer who assumed command of the operation soon after police first arrived. The commanding officer was referred to in the report as SO #1.
Neither of the officers agreed to be interviewed by the SIU or release their notes, said the report.
NAN rejects SIU’s conclusion
In a statement released Wednesday Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler described the investigation as “severely flawed”. He said the report leaves many unanswered questions and doesn’t provide accountability to NAN or Frogg’s family.
“We reject the conclusion that the officers’ actions were reasonable and justified,” said Fiddler.
“There is also no analysis in the report on Bruce’s state of mind at the time, how his mental state could have led to his actions, or how officers are trained to respond to a person in emotional crisis,” Fiddler said.
Fiddler said the SIU investigation only focused on the specific actions police took at the time, and didn’t consider “signifcant and broader systemic issues.”
Frogg had previously struggled with addiction and significant trauma, his family previously told CBC. They said he was a survivor of the convicted sex offender and ex-priest Ralph Rowe. He also had multiple family members, including his father and other siblings, who attended residential school.
6:14Eyewitness describes the scene at Tuesday’s Anicinabe Park fire
Frogg was ‘upset,’ and said that ‘no one helped him’: report
The SIU report included an “incident narrative” written based on interviews with witnesses and video footage.
In it, the SIU said Frogg was “in a highly agitated state” when he pushed a shopping cart full of wood to the park office and set it on fire, said the report.
A park employee called police, and fled through the office’s back door as the building caught fire, it said.
The first officer who arrived at the scene tried to speak to Frogg, said the report.
“He asked him to calm down and drop the knives. [Frogg] was extremely upset and waved the machetes in front of him. He said that no one helped him,” the report said. In other instances in the report, the knives are referred to as meat cleavers. Images of the two knives collected at the park after Frogg was shot are included in the report and labelled as meat cleavers.
Frogg “challenged the officers to shoot him,” the report alleges.
An officer reported that Frogg “wanted to talk with a case worker,” according to radio communications logs.
Report details failed attempt to take Frogg into custody
SO #1, who assumed command of the operation, made a plan that involved having firefighters spray their hoses at the part of the building where Frogg was, the report said.
“It was hoped that the water would, directly or indirectly, whether by distracting [Frogg] or causing him to lose balance, permit the officers an opportunity to safely take [Frogg] into custody,” it said.
After Frogg was hit with water, he walked away from the spray and off the deck of the building, said the report.
“He took three steps in the parking lot in the direction of the firefighters and group of officers, including SO #2, when the officer fired three times,” said the report. After the officer shot him, Frogg had bullet wounds in his chest and abdomen, said the report. He was taken to the Lake of the Woods Hospital for surgery but died later that afternoon.
SO #1 was investigated for the decision to have firefighters spray water towards Frogg, “which seems to have been the catalyst for his movement off the porch,” said Martino in his report.
Officers considered using a “less-lethal” weapon, said the report. Radio communication records show they requested an Anti-Riot Weapon ENfield or “ARWEN” multiple times, but none arrived in time, said the report.
An ARWEN is a launcher that can shoot items including plastic projectiles, chemical irritants or smoke canisters.
Using the available Conducted Energy Weapons (CEWs), commonly referred to as Tasers, or the police dog on scene were ruled out for various reasons, said the report.
With these factors considered, Martino said that he did not view SO #1’s conduct as meeting the standard of criminal negligence causing death.
“There is no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case,” said Martino.
