Toronto Officer Charged with Manslaughter in Hotel Shooting

Ontario's police oversight body has charged a veteran Toronto police officer with manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting of a 40-year-old man at a Niagara Falls hotel last summer.

The Special Investigations Unit announced the charge against Const. Andrew Lawson on April 15, following an investigation into the July 30, 2025, incident. The SIU stated it had reasonable grounds to believe Lawson committed a criminal offense during the encounter. Lawson, 52, faces one count of manslaughter and was released on an undertaking with conditions after his arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court in St. Catharines on May 6.

According to the SIU, a multi-agency repeat offender parole enforcement squad, including officers from various police services, had traveled to the hotel to apprehend a man subject to a Canada-wide parole revocation warrant. The team located the individual, leading to an interaction with officers. During this exchange, one officer discharged a firearm, striking the man, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Details of the interaction remain limited in the SIU's public summary, which described it only as an encounter between police and the suspect. The...