Toronto police officer charged with murder in the shooting of Sammy Yatim

Tragic. That sums up everything to do with an 18 year old boy bing shot and tasered  after he brandished a knife. The director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the agency that probes civilian deaths that involve police officers, issued a press release earlier this morning.

Ian Scott, SIU director “has reasonable grounds to believe that a Toronto Police Service officer committed a criminal offence in relations to the shooting death of 18-year-old Sammy Adib Yatim in July of 2013,” said the press release.

Sammy Yatim was shot nine times by police while on board the westbound Dundas  streetcar near Trinity Bellwoods Park just after midnight on July 27.

Constable James Forcillo was the lone subject of the SIU investigation.

This is a tragedy not only for the friends and family of Sammy Yatim, but also for those of the constable. An incident like this must bring change to the way officers are trained and overseen at each and every crime scene