“Andrew may you rest in peace. We all will miss you,” reads one note from a fellow tenant at Loku’s Gilbert Ave. apartment complex, near Eglinton Ave. W. and Caledonia Ave.
“Such a tragedy, you will be truly missed,” wrote another.
Loku, a 45-year old man who neighbours say hails from Kenya, was shot dead by Toronto Police early Sunday, inside an apartment complex that provides affordable housing and services for people suffering from mental illness.
Toronto Police arrived on scene moments before, after receiving reports of a man armed with a hammer.
The fatal shooting — the second involving Toronto police this year — has renewed calls for more action to prevent encounters between officers and people in emotional distress from turning deadly.
Neighbours inside the lowrise complex say they heard yelling and the sounds of broken glass just after midnight Sunday, followed by gunshots. One tenant said that before the shooting, Loku had become agitated about the tenant in the unit above him making too much noise.
“I heard screaming and hollering, and it sounded like somebody was smashing in the front door,” said resident Lisa Fournier, who called 911.
Details of the shooting — including what actions police took before an officer pulled the trigger — have not been released. The province’s Special Investigations Unit, which probes incidents of death and injury involving police, is now investigating Loku’s death. Toronto police cannot comment on the case during the SIU’s investigation.
At least one of the building’s residents witnessed the shooting and gave a statement to the SIU.
According to neighbours, Loku had lived alone in his apartment for six years, in a building connected to the Canadian Mental Health Association.
CMHA Toronto executive director Steve Lurie would not say if Loku suffered from mental health issues, but confirmed the buildings’ units are intended for “people who need affordable housing and support services related to their mental health issues.”
Since Sunday, staff have been visiting residents to ensure they are recovering, Lurie said.
“We know this was a very traumatic event for the people in the building, so absolutely we are going to do whatever it takes to help people through this.”
Neighbours described Loku as a smiley and kind man with no relatives living in Canada. He could often be seen riding around the neighbourhood on his e-bike, and he liked to play drums at Across Boundaries, a nearby community mental health centre, said neighbour Laura Lesser.
Lesser said she did not know of any previous outburst or violent incident involving Loku during the five years she has been in the building.
“He was such a nice guy, and he didn’t deserve to die,” she said.
Loku’s death is drawing parallels to Edmond Yu, who was shot dead by police in February 1997, after wielding a small hammer on a Toronto bus. The inquest into Yu’s death is one of several that produced recommendations aimed at reducing fatal encounters between Toronto police and emotionally disturbed people.
But Toronto lawyer Peter Rosenthal, who has represented multiple families of police shooting victims, said Toronto police still have work to do to reduce deadly incidents. Specifically, he says Toronto police need to place a greater emphasis on de-escalation when their officers encounter someone in crisis.
“The force has not (done that) in a way that is definitive and dramatic in my view — and they should immediately do that.”
Former Toronto police chief Bill Blair — who commissioned a far-reaching report on police use of force following the 2013 shooting death of Toronto teenager Sammy Yatim — has previously said that in every encounter with a person in crisis, “we are committed to taking all reasonable steps to attempt to de-escalate a potentially violent encounter and to safely resolve such situations.”
In June 2014, Blair issued a routine order stating that whenever feasible and consistent with officer and public safety, de-escalation attempts must be made before resorting to force.
Meaghan Gray, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, said de-escalation training that specifically concerns an interaction with someone experiencing a mental health crisis is part of the annual training for all police officers.
Source: thestar.com/
Author: Wendy Gillis
No comments:
Post a Comment