The director of Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, Tony Loparco, has ended an investigation into the death last month of a 61-year-old man in Parry Sound.
At approximately 11:45 a.m. on Sept. 22, the man suddenly collapsed on a downtown Parry Sound sidewalk.
Two citizens attracted the attention of a police officer and asked for help for the man. One of the citizens notified the officer that the man had just left a nearby treatment centre.
Due to the man being pulseless and with ineffective efforts at respiration, the officer administered one dose of his Narcan nasal spray. The man was subsequently taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Loparco said, “Based on the medical evidence, the man appears to have suffered a major cardiac event, which led to his death. While the officer appropriately assessed the situation and administered naloxone in an effort to resuscitate the man, the administration of naloxone was ultimately harmless to the man."
The Special Investigations Unit is an arm’s-length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death.
