A 16-year-old boy from Toronto died in hospital Tuesday morning after being shot by police officers in North York on Sunday night, the province’s police watchdog says.
In a news release issued Tuesday, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said a Toronto police officer stopped an Infiniti car over a Highway Traffic Act infraction in the area of Sheppard Avenue W. and Bathurst Street at around 11 p.m. that night.
“There was an exchange of gunfire during which two police officers discharged their firearms,” the SIU said in the release. “The male was struck and was taken to hospital where he passed away this morning.”
The SIU says there are two Toronto police officers who are considered the subject of their investigation, alongside two police witnesses.
Multiple investigators have been assigned to the case, and a post-mortem examination is being scheduled, according to the news release.
Surveillance video obtained by CBC Toronto appears to capture the moment gunfire erupts, though it’s unclear from the video who fired the first shot.
Footage shows Toronto police officers opening fire during North York traffic stop
In it, the suspect vehicle appears to be boxed in between two police SUVs.
It appears that one officer is on the road next to the driver’s window before something happens that sends the officer scrambling to take cover in front of the car’s hood.
From that position, one of the officers reaches up and fires into the car at least three times while another officer, whose uniform is more visible, pulls out their gun and aims into the car.
The footage also shows three other people at the scene. Two of them run to hide behind a police cruiser as shots are fired, while another crouches for cover by the sidewalk.
Before the shooting began, one person was standing by the back of a police cruiser, while two others stood by the car that was pulled over along with the second officer, the video shows.
The SIU said there were six people in the car that was pulled over, along with other witnesses in the area at the time of the incident.
The SIU is an independent agency that investigates the conduct of police officers in incidents across Ontario that may have resulted in death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm or allegations of sexual assault.
