SIU clears officer in shooting of escaped hospital patient

Toronto Police investigate following the shooting death of a 29-year-old man who fled from Toronto East General Hospital on Feb. 3, 2012, armed himself with scissors. (Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun files)

 
TORONTO - The province’s police watchdog has cleared a Toronto cop of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man who fled from an East York hospital last month and armed himself with scissors.
But the director of Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said Michael Eligon’s death raises questions about how police deal with the mentally ill.
“In my view, the subject officer was justified in using lethal force,” Ian Scott said Monday of the shooting, which was captured by an in-cruiser camera.
However, he said there are “legitimate questions arising from this tragic incident.”
“How did Mr. Eligon elope from the hospital? Should front line officers receive different training to deal with these situations? Should they be issued CEWs (conducted energy weapons)?” Scott wondered.
But he pointed out answering such questions is up to the coroner, should he decide to call an inquest into the death.
He said Eligon had been “involuntarily” admitted to Toronto East General Hospital under the Mental Health Act and was under observation when he ran off Feb. 3 wearing a hospital gown, toque, and socks.
Eligon allegedly walked to a convenience store, snatched two pairs of scissors and left without paying, prompting a confrontation in which the store clerk’s hand was cut.
Eligon next approached two women and demanded their car keys, Scott said.
He also allegedly tried to break into two area homes.
Scott said 12 cops in six cruisers responded to the various 911 calls.
They caught up with Eligon on Milverton Blvd., northwest of Danforth and Coxwell Aves.
The officers lined the street, walking backwards away from Eligon as he approached them with the sharp edges of the scissors protruding from each hand, Scott said.
Despite repeated demands for him to drop the weapons and stop, Eligon continued to advance on the cops, he added.
Scott said one officer backed up into a parked vehicle causing the gap between him and Eligon to “shrink” to about three metres.
That’s when officers allegedly heard Eligon say “one of you is going to die.”
Scott concluded the subject officer had “reasonable grounds” to fear for his life when he opened fire.
Of the three shots fired, two whizzed by Eligon striking a nearby porch and a garbage can. The third struck him in his upper chest and he died later in hospital.