Closing arguments heard at Andrew Loku inquest

A hammer-wielding man who was shot dead by Toronto police two years ago did not need to die, the lawyer representing his family told a coroner’s inquest Monday.

Jonathan Shime said the officers who confronted Andrew Loku at an apartment building in the city opened fire because they panicked and “lost sight of good sense and their training.”

“They shot him because they let their fear of a black man with a hammer (8.5 metres) away overcome what should have been a compassionate and humane response,” Shime said in his closing arguments.

“If only they had let compassion guide them instead of fear, if only they had let good sense and training guide them instead of panic, if only they had followed a multitude of recommendations made by previous inquests, then Andrew would be alive today.”

Six other people interacted with Loku in the hour and minutes before he was fatally shot and all of them were able to calm him down without using a weapon, Shime said.

The inquest, which began June 5, has the opportunity to make recommendations addressing implicit bias and the intersection between race and mental health, he said.

Loku’s death in July 2015 sparked days of protest from the Toronto chapter of Black Lives Matter.

The inquest has heard from the officer who delivered the fatal shots, who testified he feared for his life after finding Loku holding a hammer in the hallway of an apartment building.

Const. Andrew Doyle said he fired twice when Loku, who was about 7.5 metres away, started walking towards him and his partner with the hammer raised.

Ontario’s police watchdog previously found that the officer who shot Loku did not exceed the range of justifiable force.

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