This killing, aboard a Toronto Transit streetcar, was executed by the Toronto police. Any apparent differences between the two videos, other than the fact that the 18-year-old in the second one refused to drop his knife at police command, elude me.
UPDATE: Thanks to The Disaffected Lib for pointing out a Star video in which an eyewitness describes what happened at the streetcar from his perspective.
Lorne, TorStar managed to get video of a witness being interviewed by an officer at the scene. The witness said everyone was off the bus save for the kid with the knife at the time of the shooting. Another witness who had been aboard the bus told Global TV that all the passengers got out first but the driver was left behind. He spent some five minutes with the kid before he too left the bus unharmed.
ReplyDeleteWhat that shows is that although this kid had a pocket knife and ample opportunity to wound his fellow passengers and an extend opportunity to attack the driver, he harmed no one.
So, if he was not disposed to wounding unarmed passengers confined in close quarters on a bus or even the driver in the minutes after the bus was evacuated, what possible threat was this kid, still aboard the bus, to a gaggle of armed officers outside the bus and several feet distant?
Look at the posture of the other officers before, during and after the shooting. They were just casually milling around, showing no sign of apprehension or fear of imminent attack.
From this and other tape recordings and the statements of these two witnesses the only thing I see is an officer imposing a nine-round death penalty on a kid for refusing an order to drop his knife.
Had this young man come charging off the bus at the cops waving the knife the shooting might have been justifiable. In this case it was more like range practice with a live target.
Thanks for the information regarding the additional video, Mound. Just based on the above video, I find myself in agreement with all of your comments and observations here. We can only hope that the press will not be deterred by the usual SIU blanket justification of silence because 'the matter is currently under investigation.'
DeleteA situation like this demands immediate and detailed explanation by the police. To do anything less is a complete betrayal of public trust.
This is a very one-sided and poorly executed analysis.
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