Inquest hears from man who witnessed police shooting death of mentally ill man

TORONTO – A bus driver who witnessed the police shooting of a mentally ill man in Toronto shed tears before an inquest as he recalled the events that led to Reyal Jardine-Douglas’s death three years ago.

Ralph Charles says he knows how hard it is for parents to lose their child but also says if he had been an officer faced with a person advancing with a knife, he might have ended up shooting in self-defence.

The coroner’s inquest is examining the deaths of Jardine-Douglas, Sylvia Klibingaitis and Michael Eligon, who were all holding sharp items and experiencing mental health issues when they were gunned down by Toronto police.

Videos from cameras inside the bus Jardine-Douglas was on, which were played for the inquest today, show the 25-year-old sat calmly until a police cruiser pulled up in front of it and an officer came on board.

A video then shows Jardine-Douglas reaching into his backpack, pulling a knife and walking towards the officer.

Charles says the officer backed off the bus, drew his firearm and repeatedly asked the young man to “drop the knife,” before backing into a nearby fence while Jardine-Douglas advanced towards him with “something silver” in his hand.

Charles says two to three shots were fired and Jardine-Douglas “went down” buttried to keep going until another shot was fired and he collapse completely.

Police officers were cleared of wrongdoing in all three cases at the centre of the inquest, prompting calls for justice from the families of those killed.