Patient’s fatal shooting unnecessary, ex-cop says

Wracked with his own regrets over a similar case, retired OPP officer blames flawed police training

Toronto police didn’t need to kill Michael Eligon, says retired OPP officer Wayne Smith.

He blames flawed police training for the death of the 29-year-old mental health patient last month, after Eligon was found wandering around a quiet East York neighbourhood in a hospital gown and socks, carrying scissors.

To his everlasting regret, Smith knows all about police shootings.

He killed a man in Moosonee in 1997, and had to live with being called a “murderer” afterward by the man’s estranged spouse.

Smith wishes he had shot Bryan Buchanan in the leg instead. But that would have meant violating the police training model for “use of force,” which advocates shooting at centre mass — in other words, to kill.

Haunted by that moment ever since, Smith believes he “chickened out” and shot Buchanan in the torso because he feared being disciplined for breaching police training — training he says is fatally flawed.

The Eligon shooting exposes what’s wrong with the current police protocols, Smith contends. Two of the three bullets fired at Eligon missed, one striking a window and another hitting a garbage bin, so Smith wonders how effective the strategy is anyway.

Eligon was shot Feb. 3 at 10:15 a.m., in the middle of Milverton Blvd., creating bedlam on the quiet street and raising questions about the necessity of killing someone who was reportedly confused and had not been violent to anyone.

The shooting galvanized the community. Dozens of residents, civic leaders and health-care advocates held a March 3 vigil and march to 55 Division to protest the shooting.

Smith understands their war. He himself waged an “internal war” for 15 years to get police to change their training. He finally gave up and retired early in 2009.

The circumstances of the Moosonee shooting were similar to the Feb. 3 incident in which Eligon died; both involved victims with mental issues who were carrying sharp-edged weapons. When Smith and two other OPP officers confronted Buchanan, he was carrying a pair of scissors and a knife. He was depressed and having suicidal thoughts after a domestic dispute.

“Trainers and lawyers said you can’t shoot him in the leg (instead) because you’re not trained for that. I don’t believe that crap.” WAYNE SMITH RETIRED OPP OFFICER

Smith remembers trying to negotiate for several minutes with Buchanan before the fatal shot. He tried pepper spray and it didn’t work. At one point, he traded cigarettes for the pair of scissors.

He could not, however, persuade the man to give up the knife.

“I even told him, ‘Put the knife down and run and I won’t even chase you,’” Smith recalled. “‘I can deal with this tomorrow or another day. But as long as you have a weapon, I have to deal with you.’”

Buchanan refused and took a step toward his partner. Smith shot him once, in the torso.

“Unfortunately, I had to shoot centre mass,” Smith said, because of his training. “I wanted to shoot him in the leg so bad, but I chickened out. Trainers and lawyers said you can’t shoot him in the leg because you’re not trained for that. I don’t believe that crap.” He was told it is a liability issue. A coroner’s inquest made three recommendations, but none involved changing police tactics in disarming a mentally ill man.

One recommendation involved giving officers better footwear because all three officers involved said “slippery” conditions put them at risk if they attempted to tackle him.

Smith believes one problem is that, because inquests are treated in isolation, juries are often limited to hearing evidence related only to that particular death. At the inquest into Buchanan’s death, he said, he was ordered by lawyers not to discuss alternative methods to de-escalate the threat.

“The lawyers explained that if I provided my opinions at that time, increased liability and lawsuits would result,” Smith says.

“I regretted following their advice, and since that shooting, I repeatedly attempted to make my concerns known internally. Each and every attempt was thwarted. To date, the unnecessary deaths from police shootings continue.”

He believes there were other methods for dealing with Eligon. “He could have been peppersprayed, he could have been hit by a car, he could have been ignored until sufficient force got there,” Smith said.

“Their system is not working, and that’s clear,” Smith said. “If I had put one in his (Buchanan’s) leg, he would still be alive.”

Toronto deputy police chief Mike Federico told the Star last month that police aren’t taught to shoot in such a way as to simply disable the attacker.

“Missing somebody is a high risk. So we train police officers not to miss,” he said. In Toronto only sergeants have Tasers, he said, adding he’d like to see every officer so equipped.

The provincial police watchdog agency, the Special Investigations Unit, is probing the Eligon shooting to decide whether criminal charges should be laid against the officer.