SIU clears York Regional Police officer who killed Vaughan condo shooter

Dec. 18 shooting is one of Canada's worst mass murders

Yorkregion.com
April 19, 2023
Lisa Queen

A York Regional Police officer who shot and killed a Vaughan man responsible for one of Canada’s worst mass murders has been cleared of wrongdoing by the Special Investigations Unit.

In the days leading up to the December holidays, Francesco Villi went on a shooting rampage at the Bellaria Residences complex on Jane Street near Rutherford Road in Maple, killing five people and seriously injuring another before he was killed by police.

“On the evening of Dec. 18, 2022, York Regional Police received 911 calls from residents of a condominium building in Vaughan reporting an active shooter in the complex,” said a report released April 17 by the SIU, which investigates incident involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

“One of the first officers on scene located the shooter in the hallway of one of the floors. When the man refused to drop his pistol and instead raised the hand holding the pistol as if readying to point it at the officer, the officer discharged his weapon four times. The man was struck. Despite officers administering first-aid, the man succumbed to his injuries at the scene. Five other people were found deceased on three different floors of the building.”

SIU Director Joseph Martino determined there were no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the shooting, the statement said.

There was no basis for proceeding with criminal charges in this case and the file has been closed, it added.