One month after a police shooting, the Star has obtained a video of the fatal shooting in which three gunshots are heard and police cruisers are seen racing to the scene.
The video was handed over to the Special Investigations Unit, the provincial police watchdog agency, by James Sheppard, the neighbour who filmed the tragedy.
Michael Eligon, a black man of 29 believed to be mentally ill, was shot at 10:15 a.m. Friday, Feb. 3 in the middle of Milverton Blvd., in the Coxwell and Danforth Aves. area.
Witnesses tell the Star three bullets were fired, but two went astray. One struck a porch window at 552 Milverton Blvd. and one a garbage can on the street at 554 Milverton. A Starreporter saw evidence of this and took photographs.
Doug Pritchard, retired co-director of Christian Peacemaker Teams and now a community activist, has called on neighbours, politicians and health-care advocates to join in a vigil and walk at 10 a.m. Saturday, beginning at Toronto East General Hospital and ending at 55 Division on Coxwell Ave.
The walk is meant to mourn Eligon’s death, to express concern for his family and the police officers involved, and to seek systems that would prevent such deaths.
Pritchard, who witnessed the shooting, said his neighbours are concerned.
“We are asking for better police training and around-the-clock crisis teams to prevent this from happening again,” Pritchard said. “We believe other ways are better.”
Through numerous interviews with family, witnesses and homeowners, the Star has pieced together a likely sequence of events that led to the fatal shooting.
Times and events noted in this story are unofficial.
Jan. 31: Michael Eligon is admitted to Toronto East General Hospital for a 72-hour mental assessment. He is set to be released Friday, Feb. 3.
Feb. 3, 6 a.m.: From the hospital, Eligon phones his foster mother in Mississauga and follows up with phone calls at 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., apparently arranging to be picked up. When someone arrives, that person learns Eligon is nowhere to be found.
9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.: Eligon, clad in hospital gown, toque and socks, enters the R&S Convenience Store at Sammon and Woodington Aves. only steps from the hospital. By all accounts, he is tall and skinny. He is holding a cellphone and takes two pairs of scissors from the shelf while saying nothing to the store clerk. The clerk, who is about 5-foot-9 and 140 pounds, grapples outside the store with Eligon. He gets him in a headlock before Eligon breaks away. The clerk suffers a small cut on his hand. The cellphone left behind by Eligon in the store begins going off with a flurry of incoming calls and messages.
Around 10 a.m.: Eligon approaches two cars and tries to get inside but is turned away. He walks three blocks south on Woodington Ave. onto Milverton Blvd.
10:03 am.: James Sheppard is in his dining room when his dog starts barking at the noise of someone trying the back door knob of his Milverton Blvd. home. Eligon flees with Sheppard yelling at him as he chases him down the laneway. Eligon crosses the street and Sheppard yells, “Don’t go in there.” He begins dialing the non-emergency police line when he sees a police car and flags him down. “Where is he?” the officer shouts. Sheppard points to a driveway on the south side.
Next-door neighbour William Bartlett also sees Eligon run across the street to the south side, where he goes down an alley. Irene Koops-Macpherson, who lives on the south side of Milverton, sees four police officers in her backyard, shouting to each other, “Where is he?”
10:07 a.m.: John Reilly, who lives on the north side of Milverton, is confronted towards the back of his house by Eligon, who asks for his keys. Reilly orders him out of his yard and Eligon runs to the front. Reilly’s wife calls 911.
10:10 a.m.: More police arrive on the street. Eligon breaks in the back door of Lisa Walter’s house and goes through it from top to bottom, not taking anything, and leaves by the front door. A few doors down, Eligon attracts the attention of Vince, a renovator, who sees him wandering around a backyard. He calls from the top floor to see if Eligon is okay, but gets no response. When he goes down to the backyard to confront him, the man has fled, but he hears noises in a neighbouring backyard. In front of the house, Vince sees a police officer at the intersection of Milverton Blvd. and Glebemount Ave. and alerts him. The officer draws his firearm and goes behind the houses to search for Eligon. Moments later, Eligon emerges from a laneway onto Milverton, in full view of close to a dozen police officers.
10:13 a.m.: Barrie White, hearing loud voices, goes outside his house and sees a line of police officers. Eligon is walking “zombie-like” towards them with a pair of scissors in each hand. Another neighbour sees Eligon with his hands outstretched.
10:15 a.m.: According to neighbours, an officer steps forward and fires three shots, but only one strikes Eligon. Two bullets go astray. Witnesses say another officer kicks and stomps Eligon in the middle of the street. Emergency personnel try to perform CPR. The officer who shot Eligon is escorted away.
Curtis Rush from Friday's Star
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