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TORONTO — A Toronto police officer on trial for shooting a teen on an empty streetcar is describing the night the deadly confrontation took place.
Const. James Forcillo is testifying in his own defence after pleading not guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder in the death of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim.
The jury has heard that in July 2013 Yatim had taken the drug ecstasy at some point before boarding a streetcar where he eventually pulled out a small knife, causing panicked passengers to rush off.
Forcillo says he and his partner responded to a call regarding a “person with a knife” on a streetcar and arrived at the scene in less than a minute.
The 32-year-old officer says when he first saw Yatim, the teen was on the streetcar, holding out a switchblade in his right hand, moving his arm in an arc as Forcillo moved towards the vehicle’s doors.
Forcillo says he pulled out his gun when he saw the knife — as he says he was trained to — because knives are considered a “deadly threat.”
Forcillo also says his gun was his best use-of-force option because hand-to-hand combat would have been far too dangerous, using his baton would have brought him too close to Yatim and pepper spray, in those circumstances, would have been ineffective.
Forcillo has said he feared an attack from the knife-toting teen, which was why, after a 50-second standoff, he fired his gun, in accordance with all his police training.
Crown prosecutors have said they plan to prove that Forcillo’s actions during the incident weren’t necessary or reasonable. Forcillo’s lawyer has said his client’s actions were justified and carried out in self-defence.
