The news that a six year veteran of the Toronto Police Service was going to be charged with second degree murder in the shooting death of Sammy Yatim took Toronto by surprise.
Eighteen-year-old Sammy Yatim was alone on a street car in the early hours of Saturday July 27, 2013, when he was shot dead by Toronto police. Shot nine times. Tazered twice.
As he paced back and forth on the street car, he was holding a small knife. The police and the public allege that he was in crisis at the time, suffering from an alleged mental health breakdown.
This is all speculation since there are no witnesses to account for Yatim’s mental state at the time; no voice to articulate exactly what was going through the teenager’s head early that morning other than what has been recorded on video.
He was shot by Toronto police nine times and tazered twice — tazered after being shot.
Yatim speaks through numerous video footage of the last moments of his life, and lives on now through the post–modern absurdity of the hashtag #SammyYatim, video footage of his death and a social media outcry for an investigation into his death.
But if it wasn’t for the presence of independent video footage (read: not just a police said/public said battle) and social media pressure to look into exactly why Yatim was shot nine times by Toronto police, we would have fewer answers.
At first, the shooter was anonymous, one of a cluster of Toronto police officers attending the scene; guns drawn and eventually fired. The tazer was an afterthought, useless unless the officer felt he could shock the eighteen-year-old back to life.
First there were three shots, then a pause, then another six. Officers were yelling at Yatim to drop the knife. Yatim can be heard yelling back.
It is at this point where those critical of the police’s actions early that morning point out that any attempts at des-escalation by the Toronto police — which could have led to an outcome of life and not death — did not occur.
At a second solidarity rally with Yatim’s family on Tuesday August 13, 2013, Reuben Abib, of the National Conference of Black Lawyers and the Black Action Defence Committee told the crowd, “In 1988, when the Black Action Defence Committee was formed, we did so with the ideal that we would stop the police’s indiscriminate killing,” he said.
“It is now 2013. Young Sammy, who wasn’t even alive when we formed, is dead… Every single policeman you see, every clip he has on him has 15 rounds. Every time they pull their weapon, it’s attempted murder. They do not shoot to wound, they do not shoot to scare, they only shoot to kill,” he ended.
The Toronto police PR machine kicked in right after the shooting as the force almost drowned in the public’s clamour for answers.
Eighteen-year-old kids are not supposed to be shot to death nine times by police.
Reluctantly, news began to trickle out from the Toronto police; most likely pushed by the release of what would become multiple videos of Yatim’s interactions with the police early that Saturday morning.
At first, Torontonians were told that an officer was being suspended with pay, but that anonymity did not satisfy the public who demanded the name of the person responsible for the nine shots.
Yatim’s family released a statement stating they, “are heart-broken, confused and still in a state of shock. We are living a nightmare we can’t seem to wake up from.”
Toronto Police Constable, James Forcillo, a six year veteran of the force, was eventually named as the officer who pulled the trigger. Again, due to public pressure, Forcillo would be eventually charged with second degree murder. The hearing today is covered by a publication ban.
He was charged with the murder yesterday and turned himself in this morning where he made a brief court appearance with his lawyer at Old City Hall, then was released from custody on $510,000 in bail.
Forcillo’s lawyer, Peter Brauti, was stern in his comments that his client was innocent until proven guilty. He said, “he’s not going to run or hide. He’s going to walk out the front door and he’s going to go home.”
Public pressure also prompted Ontario’s ombudsman, Andre Marin, to announce on Thursday August 8, 2013, that he would be launching an inquiry into the training and the active duty protocols the police are supposed to follow when dealing with people in crisis.
At the press conference to announce the probe, Marin said, “It seems to be like Groundhog Day. Inquest after inquest, police shooting after police shooting.”
New audio of the shooting has been released to the National Post: “It appears police gave Yatim one stark warning just seconds before they opened fire.
“‘If you take one step in this direction with that foot …[inaudible] die,’ a male police officer appears to tell the teenager. Five seconds later the first three shots ring out.”
Sammy Yatim. Dead at eighteen. Nine shots, few answers.
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