Police officer who shot Sammy Yatim to face additional charge of attempted murder

[shockedcanadian]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/29/police-officer-to-face-additional-charge-of-attempted-murder-in-shooting-death-of-sammy-yatim/



On the eve of a court appearance to set a date for trial, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has decided to lay a new charge against Toronto police Constable James Forcillo.

According to Peter Brauti, lawyer for the 31-year-old officer accused in the shooting death last summer of teenager Sammy Yatim, Const. Forcillo Wednesday will face a new indictment for attempted murder in the death of Mr. Yatim.

The last-minute development in a case where prosecutors have all along alleged Const. Forcillo committed second-degree murder suggests “the Crown is looking for a fallback position” lest a jury be unconvinced the officer had the requisite mens rea, or intent, for murder, Mr. Brauti told Postmedia News in a phone interview Tuesday.

[jambo101]

1. Police excess

The video of the actual shooting is on Youtube/
Seems totally outrageous that this cop needed to resort to that level of violence to take out a troubled teen who was alone on a streetcar armed with a knife.|

[Saviolo]

2. And really....

...couldn't they have just closed the door and cut the power and trapped him in the car? As a TTC rider, I know how to do that! Everyone's seen the TTC drivers flip the little switch next to the headlight and then just pull the power arm off of the cable!

The video also shows all those other officers just standing around, watching. It didn't seem like they were responding to a threat.

[jambo101]

3. Options

I'm sure there were many options they could have used instead one over the top cop chose to murder the kid,