A man shot by Toronto Police officers five times in an incident along Toronto’s lakeshore were justified in their actions, according to the Special Investigations Unit.
Wieslaw Duda, 49, died after a brief police chase on April 19. Mr. Duda’s car hit a police officer near Leslie Street and Commissioners Street during the late-night incident.
The SIU’s closing statement on the case lays out the details of what happened that night. Around 1:13 a.m., Toronto Police received a 911 call about a car “swerving all over the road” on Queen Street East, near Woodbine. Two officers responded.
With another police officer in pursuit of his car, Mr. Duda ignored red lights and kept driving. A few minutes later, the original two officers responding to the call reported Mr. Duda had crashed into their cruiser. Mr. Duda kept driving along Commissioners Street after the crash.
By the time Mr. Duda’s car reached Cherry Street, officers had parked two cruisers in the intersection and officers were ready for his car to approach, with their pistols drawn (one also had a shotgun). Mr. Duda’s car stopped but he did not respond to officers’ shouts demanding he get out. Police say the suspect ignored the officers’ commands and instead accelerated in their direction. As the officers scrambled to get out of the path of the vehicle, one of the officers was struck by Mr. Duda’s vehicle and was propelled onto the vehicle causing its windshield to shatter. He then rolled off.
It was around this instant that several officers began shooting, according to the SIU: “[S]everal officers discharged a total of 32 rounds from their pistols at Mr. Duda, and one officer discharged his shotgun twice at Mr. Duda.”
Mr. Duda’s car then crashed into a police cruiser. Of 40 bullets fired, five had hit the man. The officer hit by his car had minor injuries.
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