Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating after a teen and officer went over a retaining wall and into the Niagara Gorge during a police chase. The Special Investigations Unit says that shortly after 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday, a Niagara Regional Police officer was chasing a man on foot on River Road, between Otter and Eastwood streets, roughly three kilometres downstream from the falls. Shortly afterward, both went over a wall and into the deep, rocky gorge.
Rescue crews used a hard-framed basket attached to a fire truck boom to reach the victims, the CBC’s Ivy Cuervo reported. The names and other details about the two haven’t been released, but the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara issued a news release Wednesday saying staff believe the person who died in the plunge was an 18-year-old with the Nightlight Youth Services residence.
“The youth had been at the residence off and on since 2011, without any issues of violence. Staff report that he was well liked by staff and residents alike, good natured and always respectful,” a statement from the organization said. “At 18, the youth had issues with making curfew on occasion, but was moving forward toward his personal goals.”
‘The kid went off the ledge’
Logan Tremblay was just steps away from the pair when he witnessed them tumbling over the gorge, which is more than 30 metres deep.
“The kid went off the ledge, and the cop went with him,” he said, shaken.
“I ran over the ledge to see if I could grab the cop or if the cop was still on the ledge, and as I looked, the cop was going. Like I saw part of his uniform and then it disappeared.”
The man died, and police say the injured officer was airlifted to a hospital in Hamilton with a broken leg.
The SIU, which investigates police incidents involving death, serious injury or sexual assault, has assigned seven investigators and two forensic investigators to the case.
Niagara police said they weren’t sure whether the pair fell all the way down the gorge, and it remained unclear whether they had to be plucked from the rushing water at the bottom of the gorge, or if they landed in the foliage.
Police have not revealed what led up to the chase, nor would they confirm reports from residents on River Road that gunshots were heard shortly before the pursuit.