Boy, 16, dies after 'exchange of gunfire' with Toronto police: SIU
CBC Toronto obtains part of what appears to be body camera footage of the incident
A 16-year-old boy from Toronto died in hospital Tuesday morning after being shot by police officers in North York during a gunfight on Sunday night, the province's police watchdog says.
In a news release issued Tuesday, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said a Toronto police officer stopped an Infiniti car over a Highway Traffic Act infraction in the area of Sheppard Avenue W. and Bathurst Street at around 11 p.m. that night.
"There was an exchange of gunfire during which two police officers discharged their firearms," the SIU said in the release. "The male was struck and was taken to hospital where he passed away this morning."
In an interview with CBC News, SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette said a gun was recovered at the scene, and officials have reviewed body-worn camera footage of the incident.
"At the early stages it does appear, based on video evidence, that it was the 16-year-old who fired at officers, and then the two officers … shot the youth," she said.
The SIU says there are two Toronto police officers who are considered the subject of their investigation, alongside two police witnesses and other civilian witnesses.
Bodycam footage appears to capture shooting
CBC Toronto has obtained a portion of what appears to be body camera footage of the incident, which was filmed as it was played on a computer monitor.
In the footage, an officer is asking people to step out of the car. A female gets out of the back seat — and that's when a male who was sitting next to her appears to pull out a handgun from the floor of the vehicle and starts firing at the officer.
Officers can then be seen firing back and yelling "take cover" while people scream.
The video, which appears to then shift forward in time, cuts to the officer trying to pull a person covered in blood out of the vehicle. It then cuts again and appears to show an officer giving CPR to a person on the ground outside of the car.
The video is "extremely stark," said Ian Scott, former director of the SIU.
"What it says to me is that the officers involved in the shooting have absolutely a justification defence," he said in an interview with CBC Toronto's Metro Morning Wednesday.
Scott said the footage leak is a breach of the Special Investigations Unit Act, which prohibits anyone except for the SIU releasing information during an investigation.
"It suggests to me very strongly that the leak came from the police... [as] it justifies the actions of police," he said.
In an email Wednesday, Denette said SIU Director Joseph Martino is "very concerned" about the leaked footage.
"He is writing to the Chief of Police to ensure the matter is thoroughly investigated and every effort is undertaken to prevent this from happening again," she said.
A Toronto police spokesperson told CBC News in an email that the force's professional standards branch is investigating the leak.
Denette said there were six people in the car when it was initially stopped for a missing front licence plate. The SIU's forensic investigators are now getting ready to do a "deep analysis" of the vehicle, which has "numerous" bullet holes, she said.
"Forensics will have their work cut out just trying to determine the path the projectiles took, and whether those projectiles were travelling either entering or exiting the vehicle," she said.
"There's a lot of evidence to go through."
Toronto police lay charges
In a statement sent to CBC News, Toronto police said five people were arrested at the scene, including a 20-year-old man from Toronto, an 18-year-old woman from Toronto, and three female youths — two from Brampton and one from Toronto.
Toronto police said all of those people now face charges of possessing a loaded firearm without a licence and occupying a motor vehicle with a firearm, alongside another charge of failing to comply with the terms of a release order for one of the youths.
Multiple investigators have been assigned to the case, and a post-mortem examination is being scheduled, according to the news release.
Anyone with video evidence of what happened who has not yet spoken to investigators is being asked to contact the SIU.
Toronto Police Association President Clayton Campbell told CBC News that the officers involved in the incident are struggling, but are receiving supports.
"This is a really tough incident — no one goes to work, especially police officers, wanting to use lethal force," he said.
"Although they're physically fine, psychologically this is going to be with them for the rest of their lives."
Mayor Olivia Chow called the shooting a "terrible situation" while speaking at Toronto City Hall on Wednesday.
"We have to give young people more opportunities, more hope, [and] employment," she said, adding that officials have double their efforts to keep guns out of the hands of young people.
Chow also said she was very grateful to Toronto police officers "for putting themselves in harm's way every day."
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With files from Metro Morning