A 26-year-old man is dead after being shot by a Toronto police officer in North York on Saturday afternoon.
Toronto police said in a social media post that they responded to the area of Wilson and King High Avenues, east of Allen Road, at 1:24 p.m. for reports of a “damaged vehicle driving erratically.”
The vehicle was involved in a collision and was attempting to flee the scene.
According to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), officers arrived and encountered the man who was in possession of a firearm.
“There was an interaction between the man and two officers, and one of the officers discharged his firearm,” the SIU said.
The man was struck and was later pronounced dead at the scene.
The SIU, which is called whenever the actions of police result in death, serious injury, sexual assault, and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person, said four investigators and three forensic investigators have been assigned to the case.
Toronto police sources told CP24 that at least two guns were recovered from the scene, including a handgun with a drum magazine.
Viewer photo shared with CP24 shows the handgun on the ground.
Sources said a second gun was found inside the vehicle.
‘Traumatic moment’
“This is always disturbing when we see this kind of violence in our city when criminal elements get in confrontations with police and has a tragic outcome,” Coun. James Pasternak, who represents the area and attended the scene.
He hopes that the SIU investigation will conclude quickly.
Jeremy Pilarski just opened the door so he could go out into his backyard when he said he heard three gunshots.
“I was certain they were gunshots. It didn’t sound like anything I had heard before, and my son was with me, so I made sure he got down,” Pilarski recounted in an interview with CP24.
He said he then went to his front door and saw two police officers standing over a man who had been shot.
“They were checking him out, making sure he was alive or seeing if he was alive. They immediately put on gloves and began CPR a few minutes later,” Pilarski remembered.
He said he doesn’t remember hearing any commotion before shots were fired.
“My son was pretty shaken at the time, so just worried about him and making sure he’s okay. But maybe two hours later, he’s feeling a little bit better,” Pilarski said.
“It’s definitely a traumatic moment.”
One resident said she heard “pops” but was not sure what they were until police and paramedics started arriving.
When she went to check what was going on, she said she “walked out to quite a situation, unfortunately.”
“This doesn’t happen so much in our neighbourhood,” another resident told CP24, adding that Saturday’s incident was “very, very, very, very rare.”
Toronto Police Associated President Clayton Campbell wouldn’t comment on the details of what transpired as it is now under SIU investigation but said, “The last thing (the officers) want to do is use force.”
“I think it’s very important with this investigation that the SIU gets that information out right away. Thank goodness today we have our officers going home alive,” Campbell said.
The SIU is asking anyone with information to contact its lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529.
