âIt's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, âyou have to move on,â but I know someone is just not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on."
Thatâs what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
A jury found the 34-year-old accountant not guilty on Sunday following a weeks-long trial that looked at the events of July 2, 2021, when Toronto Police Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup was run over by Zameer in the underground parking garage of Nathan Phillips Square shortly after midnight. Northrup was transported to hospital where he died.
'A nightmare'
âThat night was a nightmare for us. And I don't know when it will go away. But that night and then the days forward and then the years, I don't know how long it will haunt us,â he said.
Zameer had pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder laid in connection with the incident.
He was in his car with his pregnant wife and young child following Canada Day celebrations at the downtown square when Northrup and his partner, both in plainclothes at the time, approached his vehicle in the parking garage as they investigated a stabbing in the area. Zameer wasnât involved in the stabbing and said he didnât know the pair were police officers.
Northrupâs partner, Det. Const. Lisa Forbes, testified that she had repeatedly identified herself as a police officer and banged on the car and yelled as Zameer started driving. But Zameer told the court that he thought his family was being attacked.
When an unmarked police van blocked Zameerâs path, he reversed, making what two crash reconstruction experts told the court was glancing contact with Northrup, and accelerated forward. Northrup was on the ground when he was run over by Zameerâs vehicle, the experts both testified. Zameer and his wife, who was also present at Tuesdayâs interview, told the court they thought they had gone over a speed bump and werenât aware they had hit Northrup until the unmarked van rammed into his vehicle at the exit gate and he was arrested.
Zameerâs wife 'shocked' by police comments
Zameerâs wife, Aaida Shaikh, recalled speaking to police after the incident and said that she hoped her statements would help to add clarity to the situation. But, she said that she was shocked when then-Toronto police chief James Ramer told reporters that Northrupâs death was âdeliberateâ hours later.
âI was in shock because I just told them everything. How come they are saying the complete opposite? I was just shocked. Confused. Betrayed. Because the police are there to help us, but unfortunately it was the opposite,â she said.
On top of Ramerâs comments, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and then Toronto mayor John Tory also weighed in on the case, with the former calling Zameerâs bail release two months after the incident âcompletely unacceptable.â
On Tuesday, in some of his first comments on the case since then, Ford said he respected the courtâs decision.
- Watch the full interview in the player above
âIt's a very sad situation that happened...my heart goes out to Margaret and her family as well,â he said, referring to Northrup's widow.
âAt that time I had limited information. The courts have decided, the jury decided and you have to respect the justice system.â
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw has also clarified his stance on the case, after saying he had hoped for "a different outcome" following news of the acquittal.
âLet me be crystal clear: I support and accept the verdict of the jury,â Demkiw said at a news conference at Toronto police headquarters earlier on Tuesday. âI have always been a supporter of the justice process, including all elements of the system that leads us towards justice.â
A day earlier, Demkiw announced that he had ordered the Ontario Provincial Police to conduct an âindependent reviewâ after Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy raised concerns about the reliability of officer testimony in the trial. Molloy had previously told jurors that the officersâ testimony that was at the centre of the case didnât match the physical evidence and advised them to watch out for possible collusion.
âMy deepest apologies for what you've been through,â she told Zameer before leaving the courtroom Sunday after the verdict was delivered.
Zameer, family sold property to cover legal expenses
Zameer said the financial impacts of the case have been immense and that he and members of his family sold properties to cover the cost of his $335,000 bail and ongoing legal expenses.
âFinancially, I can't even start,â he said, wondering what he would have done without the support of his family members.
âWhat would I have done if I didn't have these people? If, God forbid, anything like this happened to anyone else and doesnât have the family. What would they have done?â he asked.
A GoFundMe campaign launched by Shaikh in 2021 has since raised more than $211K, with the bulk of the donations coming in after the acquittal.
Zameer has said itâs too early to say if heâs considering a lawsuit against police or the Crown.
Zameer told his kids he was working on a 'big project' during trial
A father of three, Zameer said he told his children he had been working on a âbig projectâ when the trial started to shield them from the reality of the high-stakes legal battle he was fighting.
After the not guilty verdict was delivered, Zameer said he told one of his children he had âwonâ the project.
âThe first thing he asked was, âCan you take me out now?â Because all these three years, I wasn't able to pick him up,â Zameer said, referring to the conditions of his bail, which required him to remain home at all times.
Shaikh said she and her husband had âhopedâ for the day Zameer would be cleared of the first-degree murder charge so that his relationship with his children could return to normal, but worried if the day would ever come.
âYou canât explain to kids why baba canât walk out of the house with you. Why he canât go swimming with you,â she said. âYou know, those little things matter. And now, we're also like sort of stuck. Like we forgot how to live.â
Asked if he thinks he is owed an apology in the wake of Sundayâs decision, Zameer said he and his wife just want to âmove onâ and spend time with their kids.