The branch that oversees police forces in Ontario is launching an investigation into the death of a First Nations man.
Special Investigations Unit has assigned two investigators to look into the death of Arron Loon from March 2015.
The SIU states they know the following prior to starting their investigation:
- In the evening of March 24, 2015, the Thunder Bay Police Service received a call from an individual indicating concern for Mr. Loon, with whom he had been drinking in Junot Avenue Park. The individual indicated that his friend was yelling in the park and wearing a T-shirt and pants.
- In the morning of March 25, 2015, officers responded to a call about a non-responsive person in Junot Avenue Park. Mr. Loon was located deceased.
The investigation will determine if there was any misconduct on behalf of Thunder Bay Police.
Ontario’s Chief Coroner, Dirk Huyer who commissioned the request, is also member of of the Executive Governance Committee which was established to oversee the re-investigations of the deaths of certain Indigenous persons in Thunder Bay (as recommended in the Office of the Independent Police Review Director’s Broken Trust report)
