Cop cleared in bank-holdup shooting

Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared a Toronto officer who shot the suspect in a dramatic hostage situation after a bank robbery in Etobicoke last year.

The Special Investigations Unit said there weren’t any reasonable grounds to lay criminal charges against the officer after a 30-year-old man was seriously injured following a holdup at a TD Bank branch near Kipling Ave. and the Queensway at approximately 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 20.

The man, his face covered by a ski mask, was shot as he was leaving the bank while using two women he had taken hostage as a human shield, the SIU said in a statement released Tuesday.

As the man attempted to push the two women towards a silver vehicle parked in a nearby lot, the hostages managed to escape and ran towards police, the SIU said.

“As soon as the hostages were out of the way, the complainant raised his firearm, looked directly at the (subject officer) and pointed his firearm at the (officer),” according to SIU director Tony Loparco.

“The (officer) and the complainant fired at each other. As the (officer) was running backwards to take cover behind the SUV and discharging his firearm, he tripped over a concrete planter at the front of the SUV and fell to the ground.

The SIU said it is unclear who discharged their weapon first.

In total, investigators say six shots were fired by the officer, one of which struck the man in his abdomen.

During the confrontation, police say four other officers also discharged their firearms, but none of them were injured in the incident.