Sources tell CP24 that Toronto police shot and killed a man who attacked them with a large knife near railroad tracks in the Humberlea neighbourhood Friday morning, prompting an investigation by the Special Investigations Unit.
Const. Craig Brister said police were in the area around Weston Road and Starview Lane, north of Weston and Albion roads, at 6:40 a.m. to search for a wanted party. There was an interaction between police and a man that led to his death.
The deceased, a 42-year-old man, was known to police for offences involving children, sources said.
Preliminary information suggests that one shot was fired at around 9 a.m.
“The officers were attempting to arrest a man for trespassing under the rail safety act. There was a confrontation and a short time after one officer discharged a firearm. A conducted energy weapon was also discharged,” SIU Spokesperson Jason Gennaro said on Friday afternoon. “The man was struck and pronounced dead on scene.”
Gennaro would not comment on the circumstances leading up to the shooting.
Gennaro did, however, did say that both Toronto police and members of the Emergency Task Force were on scene when the fatal shot was fired.
“As part of the investigation we will be looking to determine the circumstances surrounding the actual event and what led up to it,” he said.
The SIU has assigned seven investigators and three forensic investigators to the case.
