London Police say one of their own remains in hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries after a shooting on Saturday.
Acting Chief Trish McIntyre addressed the media on Monday morning in the wake of a stand off that lasted for more than 15 hours over the weekend.
“I visited with both officers in hospital on Saturday and I can tell you that both are in good spirits despite all they’ve been through,” McIntyre said at a news conference. “I and our service are here for them and will be with them and their families through every step of their recovery.”
Police said they will not be releasing the names of the officers or specifics about their injuries.
The two were hit by the same bullet when attempting to end that standoff at an apartment building at 621 Kipps Lane. Joel Cameron, who was 41, was found in a stairwell of the building around 5 a.m. Saturday morning and was pronounced dead due to stab wounds shortly afterwards.
“I extend my deepest sympathy to Mr. Cameron’s family and friends,” McIntyre said.
Adrian Neil Campbell, 42, from London, is charged with second degree murder in Cameron’s death and attempted murder in the cases of the two injures police officers.
McIntyre confirmed that the two officers were hit with the same bullet while in the hallway of the apartment building. She also noted that Campbell was known to police but was not out on any sort of bail. A long gun was recovered from the scene, and Campbell was not licensed to own the weapon that was recovered. He’ll appear in court on March 20.
The acting chief also noted that there have been eight shootings in London since the start of 2023.
“Eight too many situations where innocent lives were put at risk, eight too many opportunities for serious injury or loss of life,” McIntyre said. “There has been much discussion through the country on criminal violence and criminal access to guns. My concern as acting chief of police is the proliferation of guns is having on our city and our citizens.”
McIntyre commended the officers involve for taking the accused into custody without further injury to the man facing charges, other officers or members of the public.
“At no time were shots fired by our officers, nor were lethal methods used to take him into custody. I am aware of a video circulating in which loud bangs can be heard, which some have mistaken for gun shots,” she said. “I can confirm that is not the case. There was one shot fired during this occurrence and that was by the suspect.”
During the altercation, the suspect live-streamed on Facebook and posted multiple photographs of police swarming his building. Other users attempted to plea with the suspect with many mentioning he is the father of a young boy.
McIntyre said that posed a risk for police officers.
“I can tell you that poses an enormous risk for our officers involved,” she said of social media users commenting on live videos of police interaction. “It is essential that [suspects] do not know what police are doing outside of that room. If you’re a member of the public do not engage in any dialogue with a suspect in cases like this. If you start to share what is happening on the outside of a scene, it can impact officer safety inside.”
