Ontario’s police watchdog has charged a Toronto police officer with manslaughter after a man was fatally shot in a Niagara Falls hotel last year.
The Special Investigations Unit says it has reasonable grounds to believe that Const. Andrew Lawson committed a criminal offence in the July 30, 2025 shooting.
The SIU says a repeat offender parole enforcement squad, made up of officers from various police services, had gone to the hotel to look for a man who was the target of a Canada-wide parole revocation warrant.
The watchdog says there was “an interaction” between police officers and the 40-year-old man, and one officer fired his gun. The man was struck and later pronounced dead in hospital.
Lawson faces one count of manslaughter and was released on an undertaking with conditions after his arrest. The charge against him has not been tested in court.
A Toronto police spokesperson says 52-year-old Lawson, who has 30 years of service, has been suspended with pay in accordance with the Community Safety and Policing Act.
The SIU said the officer is due to appear in a St. Catharines court on May 6.