Investigators probing the fatal police shooting of a man in Toronto Thursday will not only have to factor in the recent mass murder at a school in Texas, but also encounters Canadian police have with people carrying pellet guns that look like the real thing, a criminologist says.
Encounters with weapons that appear lethal but aren’t “occur with regularity across Canada,” Michael Kempa, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, told CBC News on Friday.
“There’s more or less about two to three incidents a month across the country, which is a small proportion of total police responses, but still a fairly reliable occurrence,” he said.
Toronto police shot and killed a man Thursday after receiving reports of a person with a rifle in an area where several schools are located. Later, investigators recovered a pellet gun at the scene, according to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the provincial police watchdog agency.
“These weapons, BB guns, pellet guns and real guns all look quite similar,” Kempa said. “You can really only tell by looking directly down the barrel in terms of how they’re shaped.”
Kempa says “pellet guns can in fact be quite dangerous,” adding that they “shoot a bullet that looks quite a lot like a regular firearm bullet.”
Additionally, Kempa says there’s always a question of how much projectile force pellet guns have.
“They vary to a great degree. Police officers simply don’t have the opportunity to make that kind of assessment when they’re faced with a weapon that’s perhaps being directed directly at them.”
The SIU, which is called in whenever someone is killed or injured in confrontations with police, says the man who died in Toronto Thursday was 27. The agency says it has assigned four investigators and three forensic investigators to the case.
Investigators won’t say whether the man pointed his weapon at officers or if he spoke of any plan to target a school.
It also remains unclear what happened once police confronted the man.
The shooting happened near William G. Davis Public School in Scarborough just two days after a gunman entered a Texas elementary school classroom and killed 19 children and two teachers.
Kempa says police are held to the same standard all the time, but adds officers have a protocol for responding after major incidents like the one in Texas.
“There is a higher risk of copycat incidents, including in Canada, when we have school shootings and other public shootings in the United States,” he said.
“So, for example, following along from the incidents in the United States, Toronto police are going to be stepping up patrols around school areas for a number of days.”
SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette says the shooting occurred in a residential area and investigators have begun gathering witness statements.
“The SIU investigation really is focused on the police discharging weapons at this individual and his subsequent death, so really the SIU focus is the potential criminality involving the police officers involved,” Denette told CBC News on Friday.
Denette says investigators “have quite a bit of footage and witness accounts” but if there is anyone else who may have seen anything, they should contact the agency to provide that information.
The family of Thursday’s shooting victim has been identified, but Denette says the man’s name is not being released because the family has not given consent.
Ronnie Smith, whose two children attend William G. Davis Public School, says there’s a lot of fear because of the Texas school shooting, and people have to trust the police will follow their training.
He says he hopes the police did the right thing on Thursday.
“I’m not here to judge them … You can’t take a chance in that situation, you know, going around with a gun by a school,” he said.
“Maybe sometimes they don’t have time to ask questions … I’m sure they don’t just willy-nilly go around shooting people, but I guess they’d have to answer that. One would hope that they don’t do that.”
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
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