A Niagara Falls police officer is in hospital and the man he was chasing has died, following a plunge into the Niagara gorge.
CP24 is reporting that two men, including a police officer, made the 100-foot tumble into the gorge at River Road near Eastwood Avenue late Tuesday afternoon.
The Special Investigations Unit told CBC News that both men scrambled over a retaining wall. The man who was being chased died, while a helicopter from ORNGE air ambulance airlifted the officer to Hamilton General Hospital.
CBC News adds the SIU has assigned seven investigators and two forensic investigators to the case.
Niagara resident Logan Tremblay told The Toronto Star he called police after he saw a young man running through the bushes in his front yard. He then saw an officer follow him in a cruiser before continuing the chase on foot.
“Before the cop could get him the kid went over the rail and over the gorge. He jumped in after him,” he told the newspaper.
According to the Star, it's the second time ORNGE has been dispatched to rescue someone going over the retaining wall. Previously, a man survived a suicide attempt on Victoria Day long weekend with serious injuries.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story indicated the individuals had fallen into the waters. In fact, they reportedly fell into the gorge itself.