A recent police shooting in Ohio involving a man armed with a knife bears similarities to the Sammy Yatim shooting in Toronto in 2013 — as well as striking differences.

Yatim’s shooting was captured on bystanders’ cellphones and surveillance footage inside the streetcar where he died, while the shooting of the Ohio man, Javier Pablo Aleman, is caught on the police officer’s body camera.

Yatim died; Aleman survived.

In the process of comparing video footage from the two shootings, the Star spoke with use-of-force expert Steve Summerville, a former Toronto police staff sergeant and president of a private security training firm called Stay Safe Instructional Programs.

Yatim, 18, was holding a knife on a deserted streetcar when he was killed in 2013 by Toronto police Const. James Forcillo.

The officer was acquitted of second-degree murder by a jury, but convicted of attempted murder for a second volley of shots fired at Yatim as he lay dying on the streetcar floor. Forcillo will be sentenced in May. The standoff between Yatim and Forcillo took less than 50 seconds, his trial was told.

The Ohio officer will not be charged in the March 29 shooting, it was announced this week. Instead, Aleman will be charged with attempted murder.

Aleman, 46, was walking alongside the highway when approached by Glendale police officer Joshua Hilling, the Washington Post reported. When Hilling attempted to do a pat-down search of Aleman for officer safety, he pulled out a knife and repeatedly shouted: “Kill me!” — which is seen on the video.

Hilling shot Aleman once in the abdomen, but he survived. What Hilling didn’t know at the time was that Aleman was a suspect in his landlord’s murder. His interaction with Aleman lasted about 13 minutes.

Obvious similarities between the two incidents are that Yatim and Aleman were both armed with knives and appeared to be in distress. Summerville also noted four major differences.

JAVIER PABLO ALEMAN

Threat level

“The Ohio case is certainly an objective threat,” said Summerville, pointing out that Aleman is seen on video suddenly producing a knife and moving toward Hilling. “Would the officer have been criticized for discharging his weapon more than once? Who knows, but probably not… I don’t think it could be argued with any agenda that this guy in Ohio, holding what appears to be a knife, wasn’t moving.”

Movement

“I think that officer needs to really be complimented on restraint. He kept moving, kept backing up, did not plant his feet firmly in the ground and refuse to move,” said Summerville. “He didn’t draw that proverbial line in the sand. He called for backup, which is perfect, quickly informed the dispatchers of the threat and that shots had been fired and tried to dissuade the person. The delivery system here was very striking…

“He was tactically moving back from the subject, but he didn’t determine a specific point there in the area where he had to discharge his weapon. He kept backing up, and eventually they were able to take (Aleman) into custody.”

Verbal commands

“This officer from Ohio kept changing his verbiage. There are a lot of mental health advocates who suggest that an officer’s training should take that into consideration. I would suspect that the officer recognized this person was having mental health issues and wanted to die, and he thought, ‘I’m not going to do that for you.’

“He does repeat, ‘Drop the knife,’ but the officer also says two or three times in the video, ‘I don’t want to shoot you. I want to help you.’ He also kept his manners and was polite, saying ‘please’ and ‘sir,’ and that’s an important part of his training.

“I think the officer did a great job in Ohio. He was able to think whilst facing adversity and (was) very professional in his language. I think that’s a great training tape that’s been produced.”

Prior information

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Hilling had no previous knowledge of Aleman being armed — the man just suddenly pulled out a knife. But Summerville said that does not necessarily mean the officer was at a greater risk.

“From what I can see, (Aleman) was compliant up until he walked over toward the car and then spontaneously something occurred,” he said. “The officer’s actions were consistent with immediate officer safety… Doesn’t necessarily mean greater risk. It depends on the officer’s perception of the situation.”

SAMMY YATIM

Threat level

“Yatim was a subjective threat,” says Summerville, pointing out that he was in a streetcar, slightly elevated above the officers. “If he moved, it was a pace or two, but he didn’t traverse that threat. We never see him go down the steps. It doesn’t mean it’s still not a threat.”

Movement

“Forcillo decided not to move; that was one of the comments that we heard at the trial, was that the officer could have moved back,” said Summerville.

“Arguably, Yatim wasn’t really moving on the streetcar. If there was movement, it was very subtle movement… Also, would the officer create more danger for the public if Yatim is allowed to leave the streetcar?

“A police officer is taught to get out of the way when possible and applicable at the time. Perhaps he viewed there were more citizens around and members of the public were at risk.”

Verbal commands

In the brief interaction between Forcillo and Yatim, the officer mainly just yells, “Drop the knife!”

Summerville noted that the jury at a coroner’s inquest in 2013 probing the deaths of three people shot by Toronto police said it’s not effective when an officer keeps uttering the same phrase and there’s no response.

“Apparently Forcillo indicated (at trial) that he didn’t believe that rhetoric or other speech would have been effective at the time, that the knife was the risk and he wanted to deal with it. I’m not saying that’s an error, but it’s what the community is suggesting — that police officers should attempt different things.”

Prior information

“As a result of a radio call, Forcillo was called to the scene and he had some information to what was going on prior to his arrival,” said Summerville. “If I understand the evidence correctly, the knife was already presented when Forcillo arrived.”

But having a bit of information ahead of time doesn’t necessarily mean the officer is better prepared than an officer who is unaware of what to expect.

“It may or may not help,” he said. “It depends on the circumstances. Depends on how things play out, depends on responses. Keep in mind, another difference to this is that one (the Yatim shooting) was in the dark, and one (in Ohio) was in daylight.”