Police officer shot in Brampton, Ontario courthouse in stable condition
Posted Mar 28, 2014 10:28 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Southern Ontario police officer is in stable condition after he was shot at a Brampton courthouse on Friday.
Peel Region police said 53-year-old Const. Mike Klarenbeek was providing court security at the building in Brampton, Ont., when the incident took place.
A spokesman for the force said Klarenbeek has been an officer for about 30 years
The shooting happened around 9 a.m MNT and the courthouse was placed in lockdown as officers and the K9 unit investigate and question lawyers, judges, witnesses and people in the gallery.
The Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) confirmed the suspected gunman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The SIU said the man entered the courthouse and fired a gun, “reportedly injuring” a Peel County officer.
The officer also fired his weapon, the SIU said, striking the man.
Witness Anthony Chandra said the shooter came in through the lawyer’s entrance, not through the main entrance.
“All I saw was the cop on the ground and the guy just laying there. It was ridiculous – people running. I’ve never seen anything like that in Brampton ever, especially in a courthouse.”
He was a white man in his 30s and was wearing a trench coat, Chandra said.
“When the cop said ‘come here,’ he just started shooting. I thought it was a firecracker to be brutally honest,” Chandra said.
“He point blank shot him [the officer] right in the chest. I heard like six shots.”
The SIU has assigned 13 investigators and three forensic investigators to the case.
