The investigation into the June fatal boat capsizing in the Lockport Cave has concluded without any criminal charges, Lockport police announced Friday afternoon.
Police officials reached this decision in consultation with the Niagara County District Attorney’s Office, the department said in a statement.
“We have determined that there is not sufficient evidence to support criminal charges in this matter. Our investigation is now closed,” the statement reads in part.
A Niagara Falls business owner was killed and 11 other passengers were injured when a tour boat operated by the Lockport Cave and Underground Boat Ride capsized on June 12.
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Lockport’s chief building inspector deemed the attraction unsafe for occupancy one day later. Numerous legal claims have been filed against the City of Lockport and other entities in the months since.
The fatal incident drew international attention and raised questions about who, if anyone, was responsible for regulating the attraction.
A group of 29 people, nearly all connected to the Niagara County tourism industry, were riding the tour boat in the Lockport Cave about 11:30 a.m. June 12 when it capsized, tossing the passengers into the water.
Emergency responders worked carefully amid the chaotic scene to get the riders to safety, but Harshad Shah, 65, was pinned under the flat-bottomed wooden boat and drowned before he could be saved.
Shah was a native of India and longtime president of the Budget Host Inn in Niagara Falls. His wife, Kaminiben, was also on board and was injured in the incident.
City officials in the hours after the capsizing said this was the first serious incident of its kind since the Lockport Cave and Underground Boat Ride began operations in the mid-1970s.
However, The Buffalo News reported days later that the boat had, in fact, overturned during a 2015 tour, though no one was injured in that incident.
Lockport, Niagara County and state officials acknowledged following the fatal capsizing they had not inspected the operation but struggled to say who, if anyone, was responsible for doing so.
State Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt this summer introduced legislation requiring the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to take responsibility for inspecting rides like the Lockport Cave boat tour.
Gov. Kathy Hochul also said she would introduce a bill granting this office authority over commercial tourism boats operating in caves.
Over the past five months, city officials have said little about the police investigation into the fatal incident.
Lockport Mayor Michelle Roman and Lockport Cave co-owner Tom Callahan both did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Friday afternoon.
More than one dozen people who were on the boat at the time it capsized have informed the city and other entities of their intent to sue over injuries suffered in the incident.
They blame the city, Niagara County and New York State for failing to regulate and inspect the business, according to their claims. And they blame the Lockport Cave company for operating an unsafe attraction.
“We continue to investigate the cause of this tragedy in order to determine who was responsible and hold them accountable so it never happens again,” attorney Terrence M. Connors, who, with colleague Christina M. Eaton, represents the estate of Harshad Shah, said in a statement Friday.
It’s unclear what the closing of the criminal investigation means for the future of the Lockport Cave business.
The boat ride has remained shut down since June 12.
However, the company in late August restarted walking tours within the cave complex, a decision that caught some city officials by surprise.