OSHAWA, Ont. - A man was shot by police on a residential street in Oshawa after an erratic car chase Wednesday afternoon.
Durham Regional Police confirmed that an officer shot a suspect on Montrave Avenue shortly after 12 p.m.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting had neighbours jumping in to try and stop the man as he drove what is thought to be a stolen red Mustang GT erratically away from a police car, smashing into parked cars and a house during the pursuit.
"This guy was doing doughnuts like crazy on someone's lawn," said resident Brent Allison.
During the pursuit, Allison got in his own red Pontiac Sunfire and tried to cut off the Mustang as a single police car followed behind.
"At that point, there was only one cruiser pursuing the guy," Allison said. "She got behind him and he went up on a lawn, so I got in front of him, thinking we could box him in. But that didn't work. He rammed me twice."
Witnesses said police officers shot at the vehicle at least four times. By that point, the front of the car was smashed and one of its front tires was blown out.
"They had blocked the school and ‘pop pop pop,' you heard the five shots go off and then he ripped the car around and only one wheel was working, so he's coming down the street, swerving like a snake," said witness Jason White.
Even after the shots, the car kept moving, but police were able to box the suspect in about half a block away.
The Mustang stopped and police removed the man, believed to be in his 20s, and arrested him.
He was taken away in an ambulance. His injuries are not considered life threatening.
The province's Special Investigations Unit has been called in to investigate the incident.
