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A screaming Facciolo ran out of the room and down the hall to a rear bedroom, where two officers were inside with the couple’s two young children, while Brown tried to coax Maloney out of the room with his hands up, the SIU said.

“I am left with no doubt that Mr. Maloney was shot and killed as a direct consequence of, and in response to, his violent actions,” SIU director Tony Loparco wrote in his decision. “If Mr. Maloney had complied with the officers’ demand rather than responding in the violent manner which he did, he would not have been shot.”

The three officers – all of whom co-operated fully with the SIU probe – fired a total of nine shots, five of which hit Maloney, the watchdog said.

Created in 1990, the SIU probes deaths, serious injuries and allegations of sexual assault involving police.

Maloney, 35, had a long history of run-ins with authorities. In 2007, both he and Facciolo were charged after police seized four loaded guns and 13,000 rounds of ammo during a search of their home. Facciolo later pleaded guilty to smuggling prohibited goods; the charges against Maloney were withdrawn.

Maloney was charged with assaulting police, failing to leave a premises and other offences after a June 19, 2016, incident at the Hindu Cultural Centre in London.

Maloney attended Western University for part of the 2015-16 school year. Living in residence, he told classmates he was 21 and made no mention of his partner and newborn baby at home.