Sammy Yatim's friend shot and killed by police

shanekingsley

shanekingsley

Curry - so nice it burns you twice
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
http://www.citynews.ca/2016/03/14/m...ice-was-sammy-yatims-best-friend-family-says/

A 21-year-old man who died after he was shot by police in a North York park on Monday morning was a close friend of Sammy Yatim, his family claims.

Toronto police were initially called to the Leslie subway station around 11 p.m. Sunday for reports of two people fighting, one armed with a gun.

One of the men fled on foot to Villaways Park, near Leslie Street and Sheppard Avenue East.

According to Melissa Wettlaufer, police followed her brother, Alex Wettlaufer, into a park. His mother and brother then went looking for him when they heard three shots.

She said Alex did not have a weapon with him in the park, just a phone. When he refused to drop what he was holding, they shot him, she said.

The family claims he was friends with Sammy Yatim.

“We hope it’s not going to be another Sammy thing again because that was his best friend in school,” Melissa told 680 NEWS.

Yatim died after he was shot by Toronto police Const. James Forcillo in 2012.

It’s still not clear what happened between the time officers arrived at the park and the man being shot.

“There was a confrontation involving Toronto police officers and a police firearm was discharged,” the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), who has now taken over the case, said in a release.

The man suffered two gunshot wounds – one to the chest and the other to the abdomen. He was rushed to hospital without vital signs around 12:30 a.m. where he was later pronounced dead.

The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
Click to expand...

Another article by the Globe: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ving-toronto-police-officers/article29205221/

Wow. Condolences to the family.
 
Last edited:
Yup, condolences to the family.

If the account is correct in saying that he refused to drop whatever he was holding, I think this one will blow over pretty quick - cops were responding to what they believed was a gun threat, guy refused to drop the item, shots fired, sound justifiable in the eyes of the police.

Sucks that stuff like this still goes down, I'm pretty sure most people know nowadays that if a cop tells you to drop something or do something while they have their weapon drawn, you do it immediately. Don't try to explain yourself, don't try to de-escelate the situation, just do it or this kinda stuff happens.
 
Subenz said:
I'm pretty sure most people know nowadays that if a cop tells you to drop something or do something while they have their weapon drawn, you do it immediately. Don't try to explain yourself, don't try to de-escelate the situation, just do it or this kinda stuff happens.
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure that's true. Common sense would suggest this, but common sense doesn't seem to be very common any more.
 
Would be interesting to see how common your sense is, in an uncommon situation like having a gun pointed at you.
 
fine2ne said:
Would be interesting to see how common your sense is, in an uncommon situation like having a gun pointed at you.
Click to expand...

My common sense puts me in a position of it being highly unlikely there's any chance of having a gun pointed at me by police.
 
Subenz said:
Yup, condolences to the family.

If the account is correct in saying that he refused to drop whatever he was holding, I think this one will blow over pretty quick - cops were responding to what they believed was a gun threat, guy refused to drop the item, shots fired, sound justifiable in the eyes of the police.

Sucks that stuff like this still goes down, I'm pretty sure most people know nowadays that if a cop tells you to drop something or do something while they have their weapon drawn, you do it immediately. Don't try to explain yourself, don't try to de-escelate the situation, just do it or this kinda stuff happens.
Click to expand...

Probably won't "blow over" that quick if it turns out all he was holding was a phone.
 
At first it was... "police were responding to a gun call"
Now it's... "police believed they were responding to a gun call"

My guess... there was no gun.
 
Weapon or no weapon, when the police have a gun pointed at you and they say "drop it" the only thing I wouldn't drop like it was on fire would be my kid. If an officer tells you to do something you do it ESPECIALLY if their weapon is drawn. If he dropped the stupid phone he probably wouldn't have received a hole in his chest.
 
dricked said:
Weapon or no weapon, when the police have a gun pointed at you and they say "drop it" the only thing I wouldn't drop like it was on fire would be my kid. If an officer tells you to do something you do it ESPECIALLY if their weapon is drawn. If he dropped the stupid phone he probably wouldn't have received a hole in his chest.
Click to expand...

How'd that mentality work out for Forcillo? Or the two cops in new brunswick?
 
...or they claim it wasn't dropped.....

Depends on who and how many witnesses there are. Guess there's no video this time?
 
These are all preliminary evidence & not much witnesses have come forth. I reserve my judgement
 
Oh just saw this. Scrambling for opinion. Police.
 
dricked said:
The kid didn't drop the knife or do what he was told, if he did he might have lived. I don't recall the NB incident.
Click to expand...

No doubt just submitting and complying to police at the moment is the right thing to do and pursuing legal action against them afterwards if appropriate is usually the best course of action. It's an unfortunate reality.
 
FullMotoJacket said:
My common sense puts me in a position of it being highly unlikely there's any chance of having a gun pointed at me by police.
Click to expand...
I don’t know if I've ever agreed with you more. Yes, sometimes it's wrong place, wrong time. But more often than not, people put themselves in those situations. Not that I am happy that someone is dead.

Sent from a Samsung Galaxy far, far away using Tapatalk
 
Joe Bass said:
I don’t know if I've ever agreed with you more. Yes, sometimes it's wrong place, wrong time. But more often than not, people put themselves in those situations. Not that I am happy that someone is dead.

Sent from a Samsung Galaxy far, far away using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

There used to be a saying "There is no reason for anybody to be out past 10:00pm".
 
RIP to the young man. Never good to see this kind of news.

However, as a friend of Sammy Yatim he of all people should be aware of the consequences (possible) of not following police orders with guns drawn...we probably won't get the full story from this unfortunately.
 
mJduhxM.jpg
 
^^ I was thinking the same thing when I first read about it. Nice flick and pic.

Might be no video coverage in the area that he was shot with some limited coverage around the subway station and audio coverage from his phone call that he was on when he was shot. I am under the impression that it was a member of the ETF that shot him - a better trained and experienced individual than a bully type like Forcillo? Either way, it seems like the kid was a good kid who didn't cause trouble or have a mental instability of some sort.
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom