Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has been called in after a man in his 20s died following an interaction with police on a streetcar early Saturday morning.
The incident happened on a streetcar on Dundas Street near Grace Street at around 12:10 a.m.
Witnesses at the scene described seeing police surround the stopped streetcar with their guns drawn and ask a man inside to drop a knife before opening fire.
The man was then rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds, but he was pronounced dead a short time later.
It is not immediately clear how many times the man was shot.
The driver and all passengers were off the streetcar at the time of the incident.
“TPS were called to investigate a male on a TTC streetcar travelling west on Dundas Street and we understand that there was an interaction involving the male and officers and as part of that interaction a police firearm was discharged and the male was struck,” SIU spokesperson Jasbir Brar told reporters at the scene Saturday morning. “He was transported to St. Michael’s Hospital and he was later pronounced deceased at the hospital.”
The incident was captured on camera by several witnesses.
In one of the witness videos, a total of nine gunshots can be heard.
It is not yet known why police were called to the streetcar or why officers elected to use deadly force.
“I can’t comment on whether it is a warranted or an unwarranted action,” Brar said of the shooting. “That’s why the SIU is involved. We are here to conduct a thorough and unbiased investigation into the circumstances.”
The SIU has assigned six investigators and two forensic investigators to the case.
The 505 Dundas streetcar was diverting due to the investigation, but full service resumed at around 11:30 a.m.
