IN THE NEWS

SIU clears Toronto cop in shooting 

By Rob Lamberti

A man lies wounded in the street Sept. 19 after being shot by a paid-duty Toronto Police officer on Shuter St. (BRENDAN RAWLINGS/Special to the Toronto Sun)

TORONTO - A paid-duty Toronto cop had no choice but to open fire and wound a man threatening the officer with knives last month, the SIU director said Monday.
Ankur Patel, 23, was shot by the officer Sept. 19 on Shuter St. near Yonge St. Police then carried the victim to nearby St. Michael’s Hospital for emergency treatment.
SIU director Ian Scott said there were no reasonable grounds to consider any charges against the officer.
He said Patel refused orders to drop the knives and the officer opened fire when the man was about a metre and half away.
Scott said Patel had a steak knife in each hand and began approaching the officer, who was overseeing a road construction site, from the south side of Shuter just before 2 p.m.
He reported the officer pulled his .40-calibre pistol and began backing up while ordering the man to drop the knives.
When Patel closed the gap between the two men to about 1.5 metres, the officer fired twice.
One slug hit the left front tire of a backhoe parked on Shuter and the other slug hit Patel in the abdomen, Scott reported.
He stated Patel is expected to recover.
“The subject officer was justified in discharging his firearm at Mr. Patel,” Scott said in a prepared statement.
“Here, the subject officer was attacked by a stranger for no apparent reason who represented an imminent threat to that officer,” he said. “Mr. Patel did not comply with the subject officer’s commands to stop and drop his knives.
“On the contrary, he continued to approach the subject officer who was attempting to retreat, leaving him no option but to discharge his firearm.”