Family of Rodger Kotanko Questions SIU Findings Into His Fatal Shooting

SIMCOE, ON, March 8, 2022 /CNW/ - Family, friends and members of the community gathered today outside the home of 70-year-old Rodger Kotanko to express their outrage and question a report by the Special Investigations Unit, which found no police wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of the well-known gunsmith.

"It is outrageous and unthinkable that police officers who targeted and took down Rodger, can call it a day and simply walk away," said Suzanne Kantor, one of Mr. Kotanko's siblings. "The Rodger we knew was a calm and gentle man. The SIU version of events, just doesn't add up."

The Kotanko family intends to seek justice and protect Rodger Kotanko's reputation. It has filed a civil suit seeking $23 million in damages from the Toronto Police Services Board, five officers, including the officer who fired the fatal shots, as well as Inspector Norman Proctor, head of the Gun & Gang Task Force and Police Chief James Ramer.

In the Statement of Claim, it is alleged that police recklessly targeted Kotanko, negligently planned the raid, and exercised excessive and unjustifiable force when they stormed his home workshop on Port Ryerse Road, firing four shots into him as he sat with a customer on November 3, 2021.

"The SIU report into Rodger's fatal shooting is not the whole story," said Michael Smitiuch, of Smitiuch Injury Law PC, the lawyer representing the Kotanko family. "The reality is that police created a situation in which Rodger Kotanko did not stand a chance."

The police raid on Kotanko's workshop was captured by a video surveillance camera across the street. The video footage can be seen here.

SOURCE Smitiuch Injury Law PC

Michael Smitiuch, [email protected], 416-621-1551; Danna O'Brien, [email protected], 416-500-0699