Man jailed for ‘suicide by cop’ attempt

‘Shoot me, kill me,’ 19-year-old armed with butcher knife said while walking toward officer

A young Kitchener man who attempted “suicide by cop” while armed with a butcher knife has been sent to prison for 30 months.

“The situation created not only a terrifying and life-changing experience for (the officer), it significantly endangered the community given the presence of others in the area where this took place,” Justice Melanie Sopinka said Thursday.

The Waterloo Regional Police officer fired nine shots, striking the 19year-old once in the left arm and once in both legs.

“Shoot me, kill me,” the man repeatedly told the officer while holding a knife with a 30-centimetre (12-inch) blade.

The man walked quickly toward the officer, who drew his firearm and told him to drop the knife. He refused.

“Don’t do this,” the officer told him. “I have three kids. Don’t make me do this, please.”

The man continued to advance, even after he had been shot.

It happened on the night of Aug. 18, 2021, in the parking lot of a Zehrs supermarket in the Laurentian Power Centre on Ottawa Street South in Kitchener.

“The events present a chilling landscape of (the officer) making impossible choices to protect his own life and the safety of members of the public who were actively observing the situation unfold,” the judge said.

In a victim impact statement, the officer wrote that the night “changed his life forever,” Sopinka said.

“He found himself crying for no reason, unable to stay in a store due to the noise and number of people, unable to rest, being constantly fearful for the safety of his family and experiencing constant sadness and diminished self-worth,” she said.

A video of the shooting appeared on social media.

Some called the officer a racist. He is white; the man he shot is Black.

The officer “indicated that the existence of the video online exacerbated his vulnerability and that the worst day of his life would live forever,” the judge said.

The man with the knife apologized in the hospital.

“I want to tell him I’m sorry,” he told an officer. “I didn’t want to hurt him. I just wanted him to shoot me.”

The man, who has no prior record, pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon.

Crown prosecutor Brendan Thomas sought three years in prison. Defence lawyer Nick Gehl asked for a conditional discharge or house arrest. The Special Investigations Unit concluded the officer used reasonable force.

The man gave “every indication that he was intent on attacking the officer,” the SIU said.

“Though faced with an individual brandishing a knife in his direction, the officer had initially attempted to de-escalate the situation.”

The man “ignored the officer’s entreaties and walked quickly and deliberately at the officer, holding the knife in his right hand,” the SIU said. The officer fired the first shot when the man was “clearly within striking distance … in a position to inflict grievous bodily harm or death,” it said.

“The officer next fired — another single round — as the (man) rose to his feet and ran in his direction, again nearing to within striking distance. The final seven shots all occurred as the (man), again on his feet with the knife still in his right hand, charged at (him) as the officer retreated.”

After the final shot, the officer lost his footing, fell and dropped the firearm.

The man “retrieved the firearm momentarily before it fell free from his hold as he was physically engaged from behind” by the officer, the SIU said.

“The two struggled for a period of time as other officers arrived at the scene and intervened to take the (man) into custody.”

After the shooting, the man, now 21, was diagnosed with obsessivecompulsive disorder.

“It is clear that mental health issues dictated (his) actions as he was plagued by daily thoughts of suicide culminating in his decision on Aug. 18, 2021, to end his own life at the hands of the police,” Sopinka said.

Before the “suicide by cop” attempt, he was told how to access supports in the community but did not take advantage of them, the judge said.

After he was shot, he took 14 counselling sessions and decided he did not need medication or ongoing psychiatric care, despite professional advice to the contrary.