Scissor-wielding man shot by police had attempted earlier carjacking: Witness

Toronto Police Service reported this morning officers shot and killed a man who was wearing a hospital gown and waving a pair of scissors.

An eyewitness told the Toronto Observer she saw the man, dressed in a hospital gown, attempting to carjack a hospital employee near Woodington and Sammon avenues, about half a block away from Toronto East General Hospital.

The witness, an elderly woman who didn’t want her name used, said the patient managed to get one foot in the employee’s car as the female driver was getting out.

The driver, who the witness recognized, yelled “get out of my f***ing car,” and was able to pull the man away; the man then ran off, she said.

As the employee called police, the witness said she then saw the suspect run up a driveway on Woodington Avenue and disappear behind the homes.

“I was so scared,” the witness said.

Reports indicate the man was seen waving scissors while trying to enter a house on Milverton Boulevard, near Coxwell Avenue.

That’s where he was eventually shot, but Toronto police and EMS workers were also on the scene at R&S Convenience store, where the man appears to have gone on a rampage. The store is also about half a block away from the hospital.

Investigators were speaking with the owner inside. The glass doors on the drinks refrigerators were smashed, and chip bags lay scattered on the floor. No witnesses reported seeing EMS take anyone away for medical treatment.

Officials from the Special Investigations Unit were also at the convenience store and at the house where the shooting took place.

Angela Pappaianni, a media relations representative for Toronto East General Hospital, confirmed the hospital is not in lock-down but would not comment further on the identity of the suspect or the employee.

“We’re co-operating with the police investigation at this time,” Pappaianni said, in a telephone interview.

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By: Kristopher Morrison
Posted: Feb 3 2012 12:51 pm
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1 Comment on "Scissor-wielding man shot by police had attempted earlier carjacking: Witness"

  1. Could the police officers not have tasered him since he was obviously a patient of Toronto East General Hospital, and likely suffering from a mental illness? If it was necessary for them to shoot him, could they not have aimed for his leg or foot so not to kill him?

    It seems there are an increasingly high number of incidents where police are shooting and killing mentally ill people. This is scary, and an issue that needs to be examined by not only special investigations units but by the public.

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