‘These questions continue to haunt me,’ Sammy Yatim’s father says
Posted July 26, 2014 11:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The father of a Toronto teen shot and killed by police on a TTC streetcar last summer says questions remain unanswered a year later.
Sammy Yatim, 18, died during a confrontation with police on an empty Dundas streetcar on July 27, 2013. The incident was caught on video and sparked public outrage over police use of force.
“Those videos show what happened that night, how his situation was mishandled, and the excessive response to those horrifying few moments,” Yatim’s father Nabil (Bill) Yatim said in a statement.
“Why was he shot so many times? Why was he Tasered as he lay dying on the floor of that streetcar? These questions continue to haunt me.”
On Thursday, former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci released a report recommending police carry more Tasers, wear body cameras and set up 24-hour mental health teams.
Chief Bill Blair, who ordered the report after Yatim’s shooting, promised to move on the recommendations “with a strong sense of urgency and resolve.”
Meanwhile, the Yatim family has filed an $8-million lawsuit against the Toronto Police Service, alleging the officers who were there when Yatim was shot were not properly trained and used excessive force.
The statement of claim says the family has had anxiety, depression and physical and psychological symptoms.
“No parent should have to live through what I have endured,” Bill Yatim said.
“My family and his friends still suffer. I miss him every minute of the day. I will do everything in my power to help create change in how the police respond to these situations.”
Read the family’s statement of claim below.
