ROCKWOOD – A candlelight vigil for an Arthur man who died in police custody will be held across the road from the Rockwood OPP detachment.
Those who knew and those who didn’t know Nathaniel Schofield are invited to a memorial being held on Sunday starting at 8:30 p.m. across the street from the Rockwood OPP station on Wellington Road 27/Main Street North.
Schofield died on July 10 after being rushed to the hospital from the Rockwood OPP detachment.
The evening before, the 36-year-old had been arrested in Arthur following a domestic dispute and was first taken to the North Wellington Operations Centre in Teviotdale before being transferred to Rockwood that same night.
On the morning of July 10, he was reportedly found in medical distress and rushed to Guelph General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The province’s police watchdog the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is currently investigating. SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette said in an email the SIU in this case has designated one subject official which is defined as someone who, in the director’s opinion, may have caused the death under investigation.
Schofield’s mother Faye Dzikewich said in a phone interview she doesn’t know much else about the investigation at this point but felt a memorial for her son was a good idea to bring awareness of what happened to him.
“It was a close friend’s idea that was with me and spent the evening with me after I found out that he died, just to be kind of close to where he spent his final hours,” Dzikewich said.
Throughout this experience, Dzikewich said she has mostly felt support from the community.
"I've had lots of support throughout this, wondering like I do what the heck is going on and why it was handled by the SIU with me the way that it was," she said.
A Facebook event page encourages attendees to bring signs, candles, lighters or any other source of light and any memories they have of him to share.
The vigil will run until about 10 p.m.