Protesters condemning the recent Queen Station police shooting marched down Yonge St. and burned an effigy of a pig outside the Eaton Centre on Sunday night.

“They shot somebody who was clearly having a mental breakdown,” said Sakura Saunders, 34, who chanted and walked with the demonstrators from Ryerson University to the street outside the subway station.

“If the cops had properly assessed the situation, they would have talked him down, not filled him with bullets.”

Toronto police responded to a situation in the Queen subway station Friday night, which resulted in four officers firing their guns and an 18-year-old man being rushed to hospital, according to the Special Investigations Unit, which is called in when police are involved in incidents where serious injury, death or alleged sexual assault occurs.

Witnesses said the man had a gun and told police he had nothing to live for. One person who was on the subway when the incident broke out said the man appeared non-threatening when he boarded the train.

The man remains hospitalized in stable condition, an SIU spokesperson told the Star.

Miles Connor was also among the demonstrators Sunday night. He said he wants police to adopt new use-of-force practices that will better take into account people dealing with mental health issues.

“They need to not treat them like criminals,” he said.

With no visible police presence, a small group of the protesters temporarily blocked a fire truck with its sirens on from passing east along Queen St., but soon dispersed as the rally finished.

The demonstration was organized by Disarm Toronto Police, a group that formed online amidst the public uproar over the shooting of Sammy Yatim, 18, who was brandishing a knife on an empty streetcar when he was shot eight times and killed by Toronto police in July.

SIU investigator Carm Piro told reporters Saturday that a “weapon” was recovered from the subway station, and that many civilian witnesses have come forward with videos. Piro also said the SIU was in the process of interviewing police officers over the weekend.

The Yatim shooting and ensuing backlash has prompted reviews of police use-of-force protocol and calls for a greater emphasis on de-escalation tactics to minimize violent responses.

Toronto police Const. James Forcillo has also been charged with second-degree murder over Yatim’s shooting.

Meantime, a Coroner’s inquest this fall probed three cases where Toronto police shot and killed people with mental health issues who were carrying sharp objects.

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Last week, the Toronto Police Services Board approved a new partnership with East York General Hospital to increase the number of mobile crisis intervention teams — units where cops are paired with mental health professionals — that work with local law enforcement.

With files from Alyshah Hasham Correction - December 16, 2013: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the name of the group, Disarm Toronto Police.

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