Strathroy-Caradoc Police Service

News Release/Communiqu

FROM/DE:

Strathroy-Caradoc Police Service

DATE: November, 30, 2016

AARON DRIVER DEATH INVESTIGATION

(Strathroy, ON) On August 10, 2016 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
received information of a threatening video that had been posted online in which a
suspect was assessed as being in the final stages of planning an attack on Canadian
soil. The imminent attack targeted a major Canadian urban centre during either
morning or evening rush hour.
Investigators identified the suspect to be Mr. Aaron Driver of Strathroy, Ontario. Law
enforcement officers from the RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), StrathroyCaradoc Police, London City Police Service Emergency Response Unit, as well as the
RCMP Explosive Disposal Unit and Emergency Response Team (ERT) were deployed
to the suspects residence and place of employment.
In the late afternoon of August 10, 2016 a taxi pulled in the suspects residence. Mr.
Driver exited the residence carrying a backpack and entered the rear seat of the
awaiting cab. Members of the RCMP blocked the vehicle from leaving the residence
and directed the driver and the suspect to exit the vehicle. As an officer approached the
vehicle, Mr. Driver detonated an improvised explosive device (IED). Mr. Driver exited
the vehicle and failed to comply with the police and their directions. Fearing for their
safety, and believing that Mr. Driver would detonate a second device the RCMP shot
Mr. Driver fatally wounding him.
The OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) and the Strathroy-Caradoc Police Service
jointly conducted an investigation into the police involved shooting of Mr. Driver. The
specific mandate of the investigation was to scrutinize the shooting death to determine if
the use of force was legally justified in Canadian Law. At the completion of the
investigation, an independent review by Crown Prosecution at the Ministry of the
Attorney Generals Office was also conducted. The Crown prosecutor upheld the
investigative conclusion that the use of lethal force was justified, and therefore nonculpable.
- 30 Contact: Cst. Mark Thuss
Phone:
E-mail:

519- 495-4400
mthuss@scps.on.ca
www.strathroy-caradoc.ca/en/city-hall/Police-Services.aspx