More than a year after a man was shot dead by Toronto police following a tense standoff, Ontario’s police watchdog has concluded no charges will be laid against the three officers who opened fire, finding they shot in self-defence.

Alexander Wettlaufer, 21, died after he was shot three times on March 13, 2016, in a ravine in Villaways Park in North York.

At the time of the shooting, he was armed with what police believed was a handgun, according to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU). It was later determined to be a BB gun that was a “convincing imitation firearm,” said SIU director Tony Loparco.

“It is not relevant that the weapon in his possession turned out to be a BB gun . . . Officers in such a situation do not have the luxury of waiting to be fired on to confirm a weapon’s functionality,” Loparco wrote in a statement Tuesday.

According to the SIU’s summary of the events, the incident began with a 911 call at 11:05 p.m. from a pay phone near Leslie St. and Sheppard Ave. East. The caller — later identified as Wettlaufer — reported a fight between two males, one of whom was armed with a gun.

The caller said the armed man was named “Alex” and provided his phone number, which Emergency Services later called and realized was a similar voice and demeanour as the initial 911 caller.

Officers arriving on scene found a man who matched the description provided by the 911 caller, and spotted a “bulge” in the man’s right pocket. Concluding it was a firearm, the officers instructed Wettlaufer to take his hands out of his pockets, but he “abruptly turned around to face the officer and pointed what appeared to be a black handgun at the officer,” according to the SIU.

The officer drew his own firearm, prompting Wettlaufer to flee into nearby Villaways Park, two officers following closely behind yelling “Stop!” and “Drop the gun!”

The SIU says during the chase, Wettlaufer pointed his gun at one of the officers, who determined he could not return fire because of the potential harm to others in the park. Wettlaufer later stopped on a bridge spanning the Don River, prompting the officer to take cover nearby to wait for the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force (ETF) to arrive.

The SIU says ETF officers then took position nearby and could see Wettlaufer holding what they thought was a handgun. At this point, Wettlaufer was on his cellphone with 911, and “continually reasserted his desire to be killed, conveyed his reluctance to surrender his gun and attempted to verbally bait the police into shooting him,” according to the Loparco.

Officers then attempted to negotiate with Wettlaufer and instructed him to put down his gun. Wettlaufer alternated between placing his weapon down then picking it back up again, and at one point said “the officers were going to have to shoot him,” according to the SIU.

When Wettlaufer picked up his weapon and pointed it at Emergency Task Force officers, three officers fired their guns, striking Wettlaufer three times.

“Given that Mr. Wettlaufer was no doubt aware that he had a mere BB gun in hand, his actions lead me to the conclusion that he was attempting to bait the police into fatally shooting him by creating a perilous situation,” Loparco wrote.

“My conclusion is further informed by the various comments that Mr. Wettlaufer made to the 911 operator, including his desire to be killed. His intentions, while tragic, were also clear.”

None of the officers who shot Wettlaufer consented to be interviewed by the SIU, as is their legal right,

The SIU investigation included a review of a 35-minute recording of a call between Wettlaufer and a 911 dispatcher, as well as a recording of the ETF negotiations leading up to the shooting.

The watchdog’s conclusion in the case comes 14 months after Wettlaufer’s death. In his recent review of police oversight in Ontario, Court of Appeal Justice Michael Tulloch recommended that the SIU complete its investigations within 120 days.

When it cannot do that, he said, the watchdog must report to the public at that time and every 60 days thereafter, Tulloch said.

“Long delays benefit nobody,” Tulloch said. “They are particularly hard on affected persons and police officers under investigation.”

Asked about the lengthy investigation into Wettlaufer’s death, Jason Gennaro, spokesperson for the SIU, said in an email that the watchdog “understands how difficult waiting can be for persons involved in our investigations, including the families of those who have died in a police interaction.”

He said that the case required a significant amount of time due to its complexity.

“It should be noted that the SIU places the highest importance on conducting a thorough investigation, and this will take precedence over the length of time it takes to complete an investigation,” Gennaro said in an email.

In the past year alone, two Ontario coroner’s inquests into police-involved shootings have involved a victim wielding a highly realistic replica firearm.

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Ian Pryce was killed by Toronto police in November 2013 while wielding what turned out to be a pellet gun. A few months later, Aurora man John Caleb Ross was killed by a York Regional police officer while carrying a pellet gun painted to resemble a firearm.

Juries at both inquests recommended the regulation of replica firearms, and that the provincial and federal government force replica gun manufacturers to include a warning on packaging stating the product will be treated as a firearm by law enforcement.

With files from Fakiha Baig

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