The province's police watchdog will not charge three Toronto police officers who fatally shot a man during an interaction at a home in Scarborough last August.
On Saturday, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) released its findings into the shooting death of a 42-year-old man near Midland Avenue and Kingston Road on the afternoon of Aug. 13.
SIU Director Joseph Martino said there were no reasonable grounds "to believe that any of the officers comported himself other than within the limits of the criminal law when they fired their guns at the man."
In his report, Martino provided a detailed narrative of what unfolded that day using evidence the SIU had gathered from the scene and materials it obtained from Toronto paramedics and Toronto police, including body-worn camera footage, communication records and notes from officers.
READ FULL REPORT: SIU Concludes Investigation into Fatal Shooting of Man in Toronto
The SIU said police received a call from Toronto firefighters about a woman that had been stabbed in the area shortly after 2:30 p.m. The firefighters were in a nearby residence when they saw a woman outside a home with cuts on her body. The woman was with a child.
The firefighters, the SIU said, were informed by the woman that her husband, who attacked her, was still inside with another child.
Three police officers arrived at the scene, and one of them knocked on the front door but got no response. The others went to the back for containment purposes. The officers found a basement but learned it had no access to the main floor of the building where the man was.
"Feeling a growing urgency to enter the home to ensure the safety of the child, the decision was made to forcibly enter the residence," the SIU said.
The three officers and two firefighters banded together to breach the front door. As they were in the process of prying it open, the door swung inward, and the man "presented himself with a knife."
The firefighters stepped back from the door, and at least one of the officers yelled at the man to put the knife down.
When the man stepped forward through the threshold of the door with the knife held over his head, he "was met by gunfire" by the three officers, the SIU said.
The man briefly retreated, the SIU said, but he again approached the door "within a couple of seconds" while still holding the knife.
"He was told to 'get on the ground' and was met by another barrage of shots by the (officers) as he continued to advance and pushed open the storm door onto the porch," the SIU said.
As a result, the man collapsed, and one of the officers quickly performed CPR. Paramedics later arrived and took him to the hospital, where he died.
The SIU said the cause of death "was attributable to 'multiple gunshots to torso.'"
In the report, the SIU was not able to determine how many shots each of the officers fired but said a count of ammunition remaining in their firearms indicated one of the officers fired three or four times, the other four or five times and the last six or seven times.
The SIU added that 13 spent cartridge cases were found at the scene.
"There is little doubt that each of the three subject officials fired their weapons with the intention of protecting themselves and others around them from a reasonably apprehended attack," Martino wrote in his analysis.
He noted that the three officers did not make themselves available for an interview during the SIU investigation, which they legally have the right to do.
"I am also satisfied that the force used by the subject officials to protect themselves and others was reasonable. The threat presented by the (man) as he opened the interior door and lunged at the officers was unmistakable."
Martino said the lives of the officers and firefighters were at imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm; thus, there was an urgent need to disable the man.
He noted that retreat and withdrawal were not options, given the speed at which the events unfolded.
"The (man) had retreated into the home after first being struck, but he was not incapacitated. Within seconds, he advanced again towards the officers still carrying the knife. For all intents and purposes, the threat level was the same. The officers reacted again as they did seconds prior, reasonably so, in my view," Martino wrote.
As a result, he concluded, "There was no basis for proceeding with charges in this case and the file has been closed."
