Inquest announced in death of man killed by provincial police in 2019

The SIU spent much of the day investigating the police involved shooting in Exeter, on December 4, 2019. (Scott Miller / CTV London)

The province has announced an inquest into the death of a man who was shot and killed by OPP officers in Exeter, Ont. in December of 2019.

On Friday, Dr. Elizabeth Urbantke, regional supervising coroner, West Region, London office, announced that an inquest into the death of Wade Vander Wal will be held.

Vander Wal was shot and killed by OPP officers on Dec. 3, 2019 during an incident at a home in Exeter.

According to a statement from Urbantke, a inquest into the death of Vander Wal is mandatory under the Coroners Act, and seeks to examine the circumstances surrounding his death, in which a jury may make recommendations “aimed at preventing further deaths.”

Details regarding the date and location of the inquest will be provided at a later time.

 

THE EVENT IN QUESTION

On Dec. 3, 2019, OPP officers were called to a residence at 65 Simcoe St. in Exeter to assist firefighters.

As previously reported by CTV News London, a neighbour had called 9-1-1 to report a resident inside the home who was having a mental health episode. At the same time, a fire had broken out on the stove and the home was filling with smoke, but the resident refused to leave.

Fire crews attempted to enter the home to extinguish the kitchen fire, but 44-year-old Wade Vander Wal reportedly armed himself with an axe and refused to open the door.

Officers later forced their way into the home using a battering ram against the door, and were then approached by Vander Wal, who was wielding the axe.

After the use of a stun gun failed to subdue Vander Wal, two officers reportedly fired at him 11 times. He was transported to hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.

 

SIU INVESTIGATION

In his official decision, director of the Special Investigations Unit Joseph Martino determined that criminal charges would not be laid against either officer as a result of the shooting, but that the death of Vander Wal was “tragic,” and further compounded by his mental health at the time of the incident.

“On the day in question, he [Vander Wal] was very clearly in acute mental distress in the hours leading to the confrontation with the police. What he needed, more than anything, was medical attention. That, however, was not going to be possible unless immediate steps were taken to reach the complainant, who in his altered state of mind had locked himself in his home and was refusing to come out with a small fire burning in the kitchen.”

In his decision, Martino said in the aforementioned circumstances, he could not “fault the officers for forcing the door open when they did” and that the officers are not “criminally responsible for the train of events that followed.” 

— With files from CTV News London's Amanda Taccone