No charges laid in police shooting of Jamal Francique: SIU

The Special Investigations Unit has determined no charges will be laid in the police shooting of 28-year-old Jamal Francique.

Francique was shot and killed by a Peel police officer on Jan. 7, 2020 in Mississauga.

In the Director’s report on the incident, Joseph Martino said he was “unable to reasonably conclude that the subject officer’s resort to lethal force fell outside the limits of legal justification.”

The Special Investigations Unit says officers were investigating Jamal Francique for allegedly dealing drugs and possessing a firearm.

The SIU says they were unable to confirm if Francique had a gun or was dealing drugs, but decided to arrest him for allegedly breaching bail conditions.

Several plainclothes officers and their unmarked vehicles planned to surround Francique after he got into his car, but one officer was late blocking him around 5:45 p.m.

The SIU says Francique accelerated and struck one car and was approaching another when an officer on foot fired four times.

The watchdog says officers did not approach the car for fears of a gun – which was later found in the waistband of Francique’s satchel – and waited until tactical officers arrived.

At that point almost two hours later, the tactical officers approached the vehicle and found Francique with a bullet wound to the head and in “acute medical distress.” He was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died three days later.

Peel police say the illegal firearm allegedly recovered from the scene was loaded. Four shell casings were found at the scene, all from the subject officer’s weapon.

Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said in a statement regarding the SIU decision, “Any time a life is lost due to an interaction with police, it is a tragedy that all involved wish could have been averted.  Family and loved ones are left behind with questions and the officers involved are forced to deal with the realities of the stress these outcomes cause.”

Jamal Francique was one of 55 people who were shot by police in Canada between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30. Of those, 34 were killed.