An exchange of gunfire at a west-end Hamilton apartment building Saturday resulted in both a police officer and a man in his 30s being transported to hospital with bullet wounds, says Ontario’s police watchdog.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said it’s investigating the shooting that took place around 5 p.m. at an apartment building on Main Street West.
Hamilton police were called to the building after a resident reported a man was acting in a “threatening manner,” said the SIU in a news release.
Officers went to the fifth floor and “at some point, they became involved in an interaction with a man,” the SIU said.
“There was an exchange of gunfire, resulting in both the man and officer suffering gunshot wounds,” said the news release.
Six SIU investigators and two forensic investigators are looking into what happened.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officers in incidents that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
Hamilton police posted on social media Saturday that the officer was confronted by a man with a gun.
The officer sustained non-life-threatening injuries, while the man was in a life-threatening condition, Hamilton police said.