Renowned gunsmith killed in Toronto police raid. Family, experts want to know why
CBC
Jeffrey Kotanko says he was planning to visit his 70-year-old brother Rodger on Nov. 3 and go fishing with him later that day.
The two brothers met almost every day for the past 14 years. They lived minutes away from one another in Norfolk County, deep in southern Ontario near Lake Erie.
But that Wednesday, they didn't go fishing.
Instead, Jeffrey found himself racing to his brother's house after hearing from Rodger's wife, Jessie.
"She said there's guys there with guns and Rodger's hurt," Jeffrey told CBC Hamilton.
Hearing about Rodger being near guns wasn't unusual — he was a world-renowned gunsmith, known as one of the best in Canada and someone local police officers trusted to fix their firearms, according to people who knew him.
But hearing his brother was hurt had Jeffrey rushing to Rodger's home on Port Ryerse Road.
By the time he arrived, Rodger was already dead — shot in his workshop next to his home, according to friends and family, and then taken away by paramedics.
What exactly occurred has prompted an investigation by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario's police watchdog, and, two weeks later, many unanswered questions.
Toronto Police Service said that day at noon — in broad daylight — its officers carried out a search warrant on the property. It's unclear what information they had and how many officers were at the scene, but the service said it was looking for guns. Family said no warrant was left behind.
Quentin Dixon, Rodger's longtime friend, said officers bearing assault rifles had Jessie at gunpoint while she was unloading groceries from the vehicle.
Some officers were wearing plain clothes while others wore tactical gear, according to family, friends, neighbours and Michael Smitiuch, the family's lawyer, all of whom CBC spoke with this week.
They say Toronto police brought their own ambulance and paramedics with them when they first arrived, a move Toronto defence lawyer Kim Schofield, who has worked on numerous cases involving the SIU, said was "very unusual."
Schofield said officers are also usually required to give the family a copy of the search warrant.
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