WATCH: Global’s Rob Malcolm has the latest on the Toronto police officer at the centre of an investigation that left an 18-year-old man dead.
TORONTO – Constable James Forcillo has been identified as Toronto police officer at the centre of the investigation into the shooting of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim.
Yatim was wielding a knife aboard an empty streetcar on Dundas Street West just after midnight on Friday when he ordered everyone off the streetcar.
Police responded and shouted at him to “drop the knife” before three gunshots were fired. In security footage obtained by Global News, Yatim can be seen falling to the floor of the streetcar. Six seconds later, police fired six more shots.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is investigating and Forcillo has been named the “subject officer” in the case.
Related: Security footage from nearby business shows new angle of streetcar shooting.
The SIU has named 22 other officers as “witness officers.”
Forcillo has been a police officer for six years with three of those years serving as a constable in 14 Division.
Peter Brauti, Forcillo’s lawyer, tells Global News that his client is “devastated.” Brauti is asking the public not to pass judgment until the investigation has been completed.
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair has said he will conduct an internal review of the fatal shooting that will be presented to the Toronto Police Services Board within 30 days of the SIU completing its investigation.
A Facebook page say Yatim’s family will hold a visitation for him at a Scarborough funeral home tonight and a funeral tomorrow morning.
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