TORONTO — A police officer shot and seriously injured a man in Toronto on Monday after the 31-year-old allegedly threatened someone with a knife in a park, Ontario’s police watchdog said as it investigated what happened.
Toronto police officers responded around 8 a.m. Monday to a park in the city’s northwest where a man walking a dog and carrying a knife had allegedly threatened another man, a spokeswoman with the Special Investigations Unit said.
Officers arrived and pursued a 31-year-old man by foot in the park and toward an intersection.
The SIU said an officer first fired a stun gun and another officer then fired gunshots at the man. Another stun gun was then discharged, it said.
“Our forensic team is on scene collecting bits of evidence,” Kristy Denette told reporters gathered near the scene Monday afternoon. “And it’ll paint a more fulsome picture as part of our investigation.”
No other people were injured, including the officers, she said.
While there was a “short foot pursuit,” Denette said it was unclear whether the man was still fleeing when he was shot by police, or whether he threatened the officers. A knife was recovered at the scene, she said.
“(The scene) is spread out a little bit,” Denette said.
The officer who fired the gunshots did not appear to have used a stun gun, she said.
Paramedics had said the man was in life-threatening condition when they sent him to hospital Monday morning. He was in surgery that afternoon, Denette said.
SIU investigators were collecting body-worn camera footage from police, Denette said.
The agency said one officer was the subject of its investigation, and there were five witness officials.
The SIU, which is called in when police conduct could have resulted in serious injury or death, is urging anyone with information to contact investigators.
Toronto police did not respond to questions at a brief Monday morning news conference about what led up to the shooting, as Duty Insp. Suzanne Redman said police could not comment further since SIU had invoked its mandate.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2023.
