> Unanswered questions about Yatim shooting
July 27: Sammy Yatim, 18, is shot on an empty Dundas streetcar just after midnight. In a bystander video shot on a cellphone, nine shots can be heard before Yatim is tasered. Yatim later dies in hospital. SIU invokes its mandate to investigate.
July 28: The Yatim family speaks to media, saying Sammy had no history of mental illness or violence.
July 29: Police Chief Bill Blair addresses the media, saying: “Like many members of the public I have viewed the videos of this incident . . . I am very aware that the public is very concerned about this tragic event. They have every right to be concerned.” The still unidentified subject officer is suspended with pay. That evening, thousands attend a vigil-turnedprotest that marches down Dundas St. toward the site of the shooting.
July 30: Const. James Forcillo is identified by media as the subject officer of the SIU investigation. A statement from the Yatim family read outside their home says they “do not hold any ill will” against the police force.
July 31: Ontario Ombudsman André Marin announces he is assessing the possibility of probing police use-of-force and de-escalation techniques in the province, just before family and friends hold a visitation at a Scarborough funeral home.
Aug. 1: Yatim’s funeral is held in Scarborough, where his sister, Sarah Yatim, vows to fight for justice for Sammy and calls others to action. The Ontario Federation of Labour joins critics calling the shooting a “total failure” of the policing system.
Aug. 7: TTC officials say the streetcar Yatim was shot on will go back into ser- vice, but won’t say where.
Aug. 8: Marin announces a probe into police tactics and use-of force after receiving 60 complaints and says the review will take between six and 12 months.
Aug. 12: Blair announces he will appoint retired Ontario associate chief justice Dennis O’Connor to review police conduct, tactics and use of force related to emotionally disturbed persons.
Aug. 13: The OFL holds a press conference with the families of victims of police shootings ahead of a rally marching on police headquarters demanding justice for Yatim. Yatim’s sister and mother attend a police board meeting at headquarters, where chair Alok Mukherjee reads a statement of condolences.
Aug. 14: The chief coroner’s office sets the date in the long-awaited inquest of
three police shootings — that of Michael Eligon, Reyal Jardine-Douglas and Sylvia Klibingaitis.
Aug. 19: Forcillo is charged with seconddegree murder.
Still to come:
Aug. 20: Forcillo is to surrender and appear in court at Old City Hall, where bail could be determined.
Sept. 18: Chief Blair must report to the police board on his internal review of the shooting within 30 days.
Oct. 15: The inquest into three police shooting deaths is set to begin and will last for eight weeks.
December: Blair said it may take until the end of the year for O’Connor to complete a broader review on use-of-force and dealing with emotionally disturbed persons.