TORONTO — A Toronto police officer has been charged with manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting of a man in Niagara Falls, last summer, Ontario’s police watchdog said Wednesday.The Special Investigations Unit said Const. Andrew Lawson faces one count of manslaughter following the July 30, 2025, incident at a hotel in Niagara Falls.According to the SIU, officers from multiple police services, including members of the Ontario Provincial Police’s Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement Unit, were attempting to locate and arrest a 40-year-old man wanted on a Canada-wide parole revocation warrant.Police attended a hotel in the city, where an interaction took place between officers and the man. During that encounter, an officer discharged a firearm, striking the man. He was transported to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.The SIU said one officer was also taken to hospital at the time with a serious injury.The watchdog agency identified Lawson as the officer who discharged the firearm. SIU director Joseph Martino authorized the manslaughter charge.Lawson was arrested Wednesday at SIU headquarters and later released on an undertaking with conditions, the agency said.CBC reported the shooting occurred near a Ramada by Wyndham hotel, according to information and an image previously shared by the SIU on social media.A Toronto police constable with the same name received a Governor General’s Exemplary Service Medal in 2016 in recognition of 20 years of service.The SIU is an independent civilian agency that investigates incidents involving police in Ontario that result in death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm at a person, or allegations of sexual assault.No further details about the circumstances leading to the shooting were immediately released.
