The province’s police watchdog is investigating after a 48-year-old man died during a police standoff in Whitby on Friday night. The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said Durham police officers attended a residence on Macpherson Street to arrest a man who had outstanding warrants. The man interacted with officers inside and outside the residence, threatening to harm himself with an edged weapon, the SIU said. He then fled into the residence and barricaded himself, the SIU said. Later, the SIU said officers entered the home and found the man unresponsive. Despite life-saving efforts, the man was pronounced dead at the scene, the SIU said. The agency has assigned three investigators and two forensic investigators to the case. The SIU is called to investigate whenever the actions of police result in death, serious injury, sexual assault, and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
