One-year-old boy killed after police open fire on father during alleged kidnap attempt

It was not immediately clear whether Ontario officers had shot the child

An Ontario police car on Pigeon Lake Road, where a one-year-old was shot in an alleged kidnap attempt (Global News Canada)

A one-year-old boy has been shot dead in Canada in an incident involving police officers who opened fire on his father, who was alleged to have kidnapped his son.

Special investigators have not said whether or not Ontario police shot the one-year-old.  

“It’s too early for us to know why officers fired at the vehicle, and it’s too early for us to know exactly what transpired,” Monica Hudon, a police spokeswoman, said in a statement.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident that occurred in Kawartha Lakes, on Thursday.

At around 8.45am, police were alerted to a suspected kidnap attempt in the Trent Lakes area, involving the father and son, who were soon located in a pick-up truck on a rural road.

Three officers then opened fire on the father, following a collision between the truck and an Ontario Provincial Police car.

The man was struck and transported to a hospital in a serious condition, said the police statement.

The one-year-old, who was also in the pick-up truck, was said to have sustained a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The head of Ontario Provincial Police wrote on Twitter that his “thoughts and prayers” were with the boy’s relatives, but called on the public to avoid “speculation on the events as they unfolded”.

Andy Letham, the Kawartha Lakes mayor, added that “The community is in disbelief that this is happening,” and that he could not comment while an investigation was carried out, the National Post reported.