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Eight of the nine shots hit Yatim, with one of the first volley severing his spine and paralyzing him from the waist down, and another, the lethal shot, irreparably damaging his heart.

The confrontation between Forcillo and Yatim was precipitated when the 18-year-old suddenly stood up at the back of the streetcar, his exposed penis in one hand and a switchblade in the other, and, utterly unprovoked, swung the blade in an arc at a girl, sending passengers rushing the front door and fleeing in panic.

Some then called 911 to report the incident. By the time Forcillo and his partner arrived — they knew only that there was a man with a knife on the streetcar, that it was now stopped and that there were no reported injuries — Yatim was standing at the front of the vehicle, the knife still in his hand.

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But Warshaw said he saw “no assaultive moves, no assaultive gestures” and nothing from the teenager to indicate he was planning a sudden attack upon police or anyone else.

“I saw nothing furtive, aggressive or assaultive” in Yatim’s behaviour just before the first volley, he said.

In fact, Warshaw said, the police had all the advantages on that warm July night in 2013.

Not the least of them, of course, was the fact that while Forcillo and two other officers had drawn their weapons, Yatim had only the switchblade in his right hand, and as more and more officers arrived at the scene in west-central Toronto, Warshaw said, the police advantages merely grew.