Inquest into the Death of Sammy Yatim Continues Today, Next Week
-
Posted by Shelby Percival
- Posted in BlogsNews
The Inquest into the Death of Sammy Yatim continues today and will resume next week as the jury continues to hear evidence about improving police decision making and training. Link to the live stream of the inquest has been included here.
Dusan Pravica (then Sergeant with the Toronto Police Service) and Jin Kim (then an officer with the Toronto Police Service) are anticipated to testify today, along with Peter Rampat from the Ontario Police College.
Next week, the jury will be hearing evidence about the new TPS Wellness Strategy as well as more information on police training and whether further updates/training should be being provided to officers.
Sammy Yatim was an 18-year-old man from Syria who had come to Canada to pursue higher education at both the high school and university level. At the time of his death, he had been in Canada for four years and was preparing to start a program in hospital management at George Brown College. Sammy had been living with his father Nabil and his sister Sara in Toronto.
On July 27, 2013, Sammy was shot nine times by then Constable James Forcillo on a TTC streetcar. The shooting was investigated by the Special Investigations Unit (“SIU”). On January 25, 2016, Constable Forcillo was found guilty of attempted murder and not guilty of second-degree murder/manslaughter. Forcillo was sentenced to six years in prison on July 28, 2016.
The inquest into Sammy’s death is specifically looking at mechanisms and processes to promote good decision making by police officers and best practices for police responding to a person in crisis.
Related Documents:
Yatim Motion Decision – Dr. Cameron – March 29, 2023
Media Coverage:
Michael Ranger, CityNews (Jan. 18, 2024) – “‘I’m not going to forgive him’: Sammy Yatim’s mother says inquest into fatal shooting is opening old wounds”
Desmond Brown, CBC News (Jan. 12, 2024) – “Family of Sammy Yatim tells inquest they still struggle to cope with teen’s death”
Canadian Press, The Toronto Star (Jan. 16, 2024) – “Coroner’s inquest into death of Toronto teen Sammy Yatim resumes”
Michele Mandel, The Toronto Sun (Jan. 16, 2024) – “MANDEL: Former cop who shot Sammy Yatim had been flagged for gun use”
Related Postings:
https://falconers.ca/inquest-into-the-death-of-sammy-yatim-to-begin-monday/ – November 11, 2022
https://falconers.ca/toronto-constable-forcillo-who-shot-sammy-yatim-wants-supreme-court-of-canada-to-hear-case/ – July 10, 2018
https://falconers.ca/james-forcillo-cop-who-killed-sammy-yatim-admits-perjury-gets-6-more-months-in-jail/ – June 1, 2018
https://falconers.ca/forcillo-sentencing/ – July 29, 2016
