Current Events > Toronto police officer hailed as hero for arresting suspect without firing shot

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/24/toronto-cananda-van-suspect-arrest

A Canadian police officer is being hailed for the restraint and professionalism he showed in arresting the suspect in the Toronto van attack without firing a single shot.

On Monday afternoon, a white van ploughed into pedestrians along one of Torontos busiest streets, killing 10 people and injuring more than a dozen others in what one official described as pure carnage.

Soon after, the alleged driver of the van was arrested by a lone police officer in an incident lasting less than a minute and caught on video by bystanders.

Get down, the officer shouts.

Kill me, the man tells the police officer. I have a gun in my pocket.

The officers voice remains calm as he again orders the man to get down, warning that he will shoot if the man does not cooperate. Shoot me in the head, the suspect replies.

Weapon drawn, the officer advances towards the suspect. The suspect steps backwards, dropping what he was holding and raising his hands in the air. The officer proceeded to single-handedly arrest the suspect.

The arrest came as police forces across North America including in Toronto have been criticised for using excessive force to subdue mentally ill or unarmed suspects.

The power of a level headed non trigger happy cop. Huh.
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american cops would have turned that guy into swiss cheese
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voldothegr8 posted...

killing 10 people and injuring more than a dozen others in what one official described as pure carnage.

Why is taking this person alive a virtuous act?

halomonkey1_3_5 posted...

american cops would have turned that guy into swiss cheese

And he wouldn't be spending the rest of his life in prison pissing away our tax dollars.

edit2:
Don't get me wrong, taking him alive to question him has practical applications. If he was part of a terrorist cell or something but his life is without value to me.
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voldothegr8 posted...

Shoot me in the head, the suspect replies.

Should have granted that piece of shits request instead.
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Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

voldothegr8 posted...

killing 10 people and injuring more than a dozen others in what one official described as pure carnage.

Why is taking this person alive a virtuous act?

Because it reinforces the narrative that cops don't need guns
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Good job to the arresting officer. The amount of people I've seen saying that he should have blown the suspect away is alarming. Just because that's how the cops in America do it doesn't mean it should be the standard around the globe.
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Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

voldothegr8 posted...

killing 10 people and injuring more than a dozen others in what one official described as pure carnage.

Why is taking this person alive a virtuous act?

That's what I thought. Especially as the Canadian government is so fucking cheap he will probably only serve 5 years.
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he knew what the man was holding wasn't a gun and didn't take the easy way out with that locked in excuse. good on him. We should train our officers like that
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As a Toronto resident, I wish he would have unloaded on him. Fuck that piece of shit.
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Isolated incident #4831645958762721854624658951687225
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How's this article go if that cop gets shot in the head for not firing his weapon?

He made the right call; something told him this scumbag wasn't going to shoot, but if he's wrong on that gamble, it's bad all around.
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Patchwork posted...

How's this article go if that cop gets shot in the head for not firing his weapon?

He made the right call; something told him this scumbag wasn't going to shoot, but if he's wrong on that gamble, it's bad all around.

the dude was holding a phone and i'm sure the cop knew that. he had a gun but all reports i've heard said what he pointed at the cop was a phone. he assessed the situation and responded accordingly instead of just jumping to 100 instantly and making excuses afterwards.
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As a Toronto resident, I am happy this officer showed the restraint he did. Although it would have been fair next if he decided to open fire.
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TheVipaGTS posted...

Patchwork posted...

How's this article go if that cop gets shot in the head for not firing his weapon?

He made the right call; something told him this scumbag wasn't going to shoot, but if he's wrong on that gamble, it's bad all around.

the dude was holding a phone and i'm sure the cop knew that. he had a gun but all reports i've heard said what he pointed at the cop was a phone. he assessed the situation and responded accordingly instead of just jumping to 100 instantly and making excuses afterwards.

If it was a phone, 100% correct assessment.

If it was a gun, that's an awful big chance to take.
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ClunkerSlim posted...

voldothegr8 posted...

the man tells the police officer. I have a gun in my pocket.

The suspect steps backwards, dropping what he was holding

I guess Im in the minority here. Because Im going to say that officer came dangerously close to screwing up. He basically gambled with his life and the lives of anyone around him. If he had been wrong about that gun then innocent people would have died. The officer is being called a hero now. But if he had lost that gamble then hed be called a moron and the public would be demanding all officers undergo retraining.

There's a very fine line between success and failure here. That isn't in dispute.
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good on him for having the restraint necessary to not exercise lethal force on the guy, when he had all rights to.
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thelovefist posted...

ClunkerSlim posted...

voldothegr8 posted...

the man tells the police officer. I have a gun in my pocket.

The suspect steps backwards, dropping what he was holding

I guess Im in the minority here. Because Im going to say that officer came dangerously close to screwing up. He basically gambled with his life and the lives of anyone around him. If he had been wrong about that gun then innocent people would have died. The officer is being called a hero now. But if he had lost that gamble then hed be called a moron and the public would be demanding all officers undergo retraining.

There's a very fine line between success and failure here. That isn't in dispute.

exactly. we know it COULD have had a different outcome. ultimately this officer did his job. he assessed the situation and took a calculated approach instead of just firing and saying "I had no choice"...he had a choice. Admittedly that choice COULD go in the opposite direction and be bad...but it could also go as it did and be good. The possibility of a mistake is no excuse to not act like this officer did.
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shockthemonkey posted...

That cop is a fucking pro and a half. I hope he got a heros blowjob after work.

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ClunkerSlim posted...

thelovefist posted...

ClunkerSlim posted...

voldothegr8 posted...

the man tells the police officer. I have a gun in my pocket.

The suspect steps backwards, dropping what he was holding

I guess Im in the minority here. Because Im going to say that officer came dangerously close to screwing up. He basically gambled with his life and the lives of anyone around him. If he had been wrong about that gun then innocent people would have died. The officer is being called a hero now. But if he had lost that gamble then hed be called a moron and the public would be demanding all officers undergo retraining.

There's a very fine line between success and failure here. That isn't in dispute.

Not good enough. Officers really shouldnt gamble with innocent peoples lives. What if that suspect had fired at the officer and got away to do more damage? Im sorry, it may sound callous, but the officer probably should have fired. Firing guarantees success, not firing is a gamble he shouldnt have taken.

Shut the fuck up
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ClunkerSlim posted...

Not good enough. Officers really shouldnt gamble with innocent peoples lives. What if that suspect had fired at the officer and got away to do more damage? Im sorry, it may sound callous, but the officer probably should have fired. Firing guarantees success, not firing is a gamble he shouldnt have taken.

Umm...
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ClunkerSlim posted...

thelovefist posted...

ClunkerSlim posted...

thelovefist posted...

ClunkerSlim posted...

voldothegr8 posted...

the man tells the police officer. I have a gun in my pocket.

The suspect steps backwards, dropping what he was holding

I guess Im in the minority here. Because Im going to say that officer came dangerously close to screwing up. He basically gambled with his life and the lives of anyone around him. If he had been wrong about that gun then innocent people would have died. The officer is being called a hero now. But if he had lost that gamble then hed be called a moron and the public would be demanding all officers undergo retraining.

There's a very fine line between success and failure here. That isn't in dispute.

Not good enough. Officers really shouldnt gamble with innocent peoples lives. What if that suspect had fired at the officer and got away to do more damage? Im sorry, it may sound callous, but the officer probably should have fired. Firing guarantees success, not firing is a gamble he shouldnt have taken.

Shut the fuck up

Sorry. But its true.

1. He was close enough to the suspect to likely see that he was holding a mobile and not a firearm.
2. In the video, you can clearly see pedestrians walking behind the suspect i.e. if the officer did open fire he could have shot an innocent bystander.
3. Shut the fuck up.
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ClunkerSlim posted...

thelovefist posted...

1. He was close enough to the suspect to likely see that he was holding a mobile and not a firearm.

No, we dont know that. Youre assuming that. For all we know this officer hesitated. And hesitation has the potential to get you killed down the line.

There's literally a video of it.
Go away.
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It takes a special kind of asshole to use a tragedy like this to shitpost.
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ClunkerSlim posted...

thelovefist posted...

1. He was close enough to the suspect to likely see that he was holding a mobile and not a firearm.

No, we dont know that. Youre assuming that. For all we know this officer hesitated. And hesitation has the potential to get you killed down the line.

Imagine shitting on a hero because he didn't shoot a criminal
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shockthemonkey posted...

How shitty of a poster do you have to be for thelovefist to tool on you?

Shut the fuck up
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thelovefist posted...

shockthemonkey posted...

How shitty of a poster do you have to be for thelovefist to tool on you?

Shut the fuck up

hes right
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"Stop shitposting"

You mean stop using a detached non-emotionally invested look at the situation? Oh is it "too soon"? Jesus.
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ultimate reaver posted...

thelovefist posted...

shockthemonkey posted...

How shitty of a poster do you have to be for thelovefist to tool on you?

Shut the fuck up

hes right

Who are you and why should I care what you think?
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ClunkerSlim posted...

Mike McCormack, the president of the Toronto Police Association, said the officer who has been with the force for more than seven years would have been justified if he had decided to fire at the suspect.

^ I notice this piece of the article is cut out of the first post.

its not relevant to anything being said. he had two choices. to fire or not to fire. whether or not he would have been justified had he fired doesn't change the fact that he is being applauded for doing his job, taking measurement of the situation, and acting accordingly to the facts he saw. It was a cell phone, lethal force, justified or not, was not necessary, so he chose not to use it. He deserves praise for that.
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TheVipaGTS posted...

ClunkerSlim posted...

Mike McCormack, the president of the Toronto Police Association, said the officer who has been with the force for more than seven years would have been justified if he had decided to fire at the suspect.

^ I notice this piece of the article is cut out of the first post.

its not relevant to anything being said. he had two choices. to fire or not to fire. whether or not he would have been justified had he fired doesn't change the fact that he is being applauded for doing his job, taking measurement of the situation, and acting accordingly to the facts he saw. It was a cell phone, lethal force, justified or not, was not necessary, so he chose not to use it. He deserves praise for that.

Well said
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ClunkerSlim posted...

I have a real hard time saying, the officer firing his weapon would have been the wrong choice.

thelovefist posted...

2. In the video, you can clearly see pedestrians walking behind the suspect i.e. if the officer did open fire he could have shot an innocent bystander.

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ClunkerSlim posted...

I have a real hard time saying, the officer firing his weapon would have been the wrong choice.

Can you think of any situation involving a violent criminal not already subdued without "possible disastrous consequences"?
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He gambled with his life to save a less valuable life...not smart

Unless he knew it wasn't lethal, then that's smart
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ClunkerSlim posted...

hortanz posted...

ClunkerSlim posted...

I have a real hard time saying, the officer firing his weapon would have been the wrong choice.

thelovefist posted...

2. In the video, you can clearly see pedestrians walking behind the suspect i.e. if the officer did open fire he could have shot an innocent bystander.

There was a van between the pedestrians and the suspect. The pedestrians were walking behind the van. The point at which the officer probably should have fired was before the pedestrians even walked into frame.

No responsible firearm user would utilize that thought process....

Seriously, shut the fuck up already.
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