The father of Sammy Yatim says a number of questions continue to “haunt” him as he gets ready to mark the one-year anniversary of his son’s death.
Yatim, 18, was wielding a knife inside an empty streetcar on Dundas Street near Bellwoods Avenue in the early hours of July 27, 2013 when Const. James Forcillo fired nine shots, striking him eight times.
The shooting, which was partially captured on video and uploaded to YouTube, touched off several weeks of public protests which eventually culminated with the Special Investigations Unit charging Forcillo with second-degree murder.
Yatim’s family has previously said that Sammy was suffering an “an acute emotional disturbance” at the time of the shooting.
“Why was he shot so many times? Why was he tasered as he lay dying on the floor of that streetcar? These questions continue to haunt me. No parent should have to live through what I have endured,” Nabil Yatim said in a statement issued Saturday morning. “My family and his friends still suffer. I miss him every minute of the day. I will do everything in my power to help create change in how the police respond to these situations. Sammy did not deserve to die this way.”
A review of use of force guidelines ordered in the wake of the shooting was released earlier this week and made 84 recommendations, many of them directed at the training and support given to officers in dealing with people in crisis.
The review also recommended that police consider expanding the use of body-worn cameras and tasers.
Police Chief Bill Blair has vowed to move “urgently” in adopting all of the recommendations made in the review.
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