Man shot in police incident was gunsmith, neighbour says
Special Investigations Unit assigns five inspectors to incident
Author of the article:
Monte Sonnenberg
Publishing date:
Nov 04, 2021 • 19 hours ago • 3 minute read •
PORT RYERSE – Witnesses, neighbours and friends have identified a Norfolk man killed in an interaction with Toronto police this week as gunsmith Rodger Kotanko, 70.
Mark Donnell of Simcoe, a life-long friend of Kotanko’s, arrived at the scene with a friend around noon Wednesday minutes after a shooting occurred at Kotanko’s home at 467 Port Ryerse Road immediately north of Highway 6.
Neither police nor the Special Investigations Unit have released the man’s name but an online search indicates Kotanko was associated with the residence.
Donnell said he and his friend had plans to go hunting in a bush beside Kotanko’s property. As he pulled up, Donnell said he noticed a heavy police presence in the area.
Thursday morning, Donnell said he watched paramedics wheel Kotanko out of the home on a stretcher. Donnell said paramedics were performing CPR as they did so. A friend of the Kotanko family, Donnell said he has it from “a reliable source” that Kotanko was shot once in the neck and three times in the chest.
Donnell said Kotanko’s wife Jessie was in the front yard, distraught, crying and yelling her husband’s name.
“I wanted to go see her,” Donnell said. “But they wouldn’t let me. Police told me very unpolitely to leave. I watched them bring him out on a stretcher. Then they kicked me out.”
In a social media post on Wednesday, Toronto police said officers were executing a firearms search warrant at the time of the shooting.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) shared details of the incident Wednesday night.
“At about 12:04 p.m., in the course of Toronto Police Service officers executing a search warrant, shots were fired near a residence in the area of Highway 6 and Highway 24,” an SIU news release said. “One man is deceased.”
The SIU is called to investigate anytime a civilian in Ontario is injured or killed during an interaction with police. The SIU says three investigators and two forensic experts have been assigned to the case.
In a follow-up email Thursday, SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette said the interaction involved members of the Toronto police service. She said the Norfolk OPP were not involved.
Denette added a post mortem was conducted Thursday morning. Denette says a “subject official” has been identified for the pending investigation along with “three witness officials.”
Fraser Pringle lives a couple doors down from the Kotanko residence. He and Kotanko have known each other for years, Pringle said.
“They shot a gunsmith,” Pringle said Thursday. “You have to put that in there. He has guns because he’s a gunsmith. He had a customer with him too. That’s what Rodger has always done. He was a gunsmith. He kept to himself. He was harmless.”
Dan Nagy, owner of Eli’s Guns and Archery in Simcoe, was stunned to learn of Kotanko’s death. In an email Thursday, Nagy said Kotanko was a friend and a mentor.
“Rodger was instrumental in teaching me my trade of gunsmithing,” Nagy said. “Everyone in the firearms community will mourn his loss. He was well-known and a well-respected community member and always under-charged his customers for the work he did.
“Those who knew Rodger knew he was as threatening as a toothless puppy or a declawed kitten. This situation causes great concern for all legal firearm owners.”
Donnell said Kotanko had expertise in the care and upkeep of both long arms and handguns. He said Kotanko occasionally did work for members of the Norfolk OPP.
