The US newspapers do not seem to have picked this up from what I can tell, and it is VERY disturbing. A little over a week ago, a 19-year-old named Sammy Yatim with a Swiss army knife, goes non-linear on a Toronto streetcar. Everyone rushes off the tram. The passengers are freaked out but no one is injured. A guy carrying his bicycle walks right past Sammy while maintaining eye contact. The police show up and shoot him NINE times, then taser him.
The police are surrounding the tram. No one is in danger. Everyone is off the bus. There are no hostages. A bystander catches everything on video and posts it. Wait three-seconds for the stupid commercial and you see the whole thing. The city is appalled. Toronto police have some serious 'splaining to do.
The original footage is on YouTube from various angles.
Here are the first hand accounts from those on the bus: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/08/04/sammy_yatim_what_... It doesn't sound as benign as a guy with a Swiss Army knife peacefully lets people off a trolly. It sounds like people were legitimately scared for their lives. A young 15 year old girl threatened by sexual assault. Now this in no way would condone killing the guy, but the facts should be presented accurately, right? The guy has his genitals in one hand, a knife in the other and is screaming obscenities and seemingly crazed.
Please fix the link to the first-hand accounts.
Edit: they flee the tram in fear. tng, I'm not saying the guy is benign -- I said he is non-linear. That means scary and completely random, but everyone is off the tram. The second video on this link, even shows everyone getting off the tram - the last one is the guy with the bike. (20" - 30" of the video). Sammy's dangerous and crazy for sure -- BUT when they shoot him, he is alone on the tram and no one is in danger. There's even a policewoman standing closer to the door of the tram than the policeman who is doing the shooting. Watch the videos from any angle -- does it look like the police are in danger?
And yes, the facts should be presented accurately or I should say nothing and just post the link to the videos.
I watched the video Lil. There is no doubt that excessive force seems to have been used. I mean, a knife vs 9 bullets? He seemed to not be a threat to anyone but perhaps himself at that point. Why wasn't a taser used first? Barring finding out that the police were told he had a gun in his pants or something else, I don't see how this can be anything less than the excessive use of force. I will say that, like anyone, this cop deserves to have his version told too. But... I'm hard pressed to think of how his version is different from what the video shows. As for my first comment, I think it's just worth mentioning in your description of the event that it wasn't just some kid with a little knife. This young man was threatening to hurt and sexually assault young women. I agree with theadvancedapes that he was likely on drugs. Guess we shall see. Sad story. edit: Link in original comment fixed.
Re why the Taser wasn't used first -- Here is a frame-by-frame analysis of what the video shows by a former police investigator. He says that only a sergeant has the taser. He is not on the scene at the beginning. At 4'50" on the video, you can see the taser-carrying officer arriving. -- after the nine shots have been fired and Sammy is lying on the floor of the bus. He arrives with his taser, -- and gee, I guess since he's there, he has to use it. He came later http://globalnews.ca/video/750985/analysis-of-viral-video-of...
Yes, undoubtedly. It sounds like he was on something, or something was incredibly wrong with him. I don't think that anyone would have faulted the police officer from shooting him once to disable him if the police officer felt threatened. But the video of him shooting the kid 9 times shows how excessive and obviously unnecessary his actions were.
I agree. It was handled horribly. I can't believe the police officer got leave WITH PAY.
What if this officer has kids and is the sole provider for his family? He has yet to be tried, right? I don't see him receiving his pay as necessarily all that odd. I doubt he'll be sitting at home enjoying the spoils. If he's found negligent, which seems very likely, then he'll be fired and potentially incarcerated.
Fair. I guess I just don't have sympathy for a police officer who let the power go to his head. I could understand if he felt he needed to shoot, but 9 times? It was just so excessive and I don't know how it can be justified.
I don't have sympathy for the guy either. He really fucked up and it may very well be that this isn't the first time. Who knows what happened in that guys head. What is likely is that he will be let go and will either have a horrible time of it for the rest of his life or become a FOX news correspondent in the US.