

Chris Herhalt, CP24.com





The lawyer who was shot twice while standing in front of his office in The Annex last fall is questioning the conduct of police who were tailing his alleged shooter and says he plans to sue several police services and the Special Investigations Unit.

In the wake of the Special Investigations Unit clearing an officer of any wrongdoing for shooting his alleged attacker, J. Randall Barrs says he can’t understand why undercover officers followed the suspect for much of the day but failed to intervene before he was shot twice in the leg.

“I have no answers as to what they knew was about to happen that day,” Barrs told reporters in his office on Thursday.

According to the Special Investigations Unit, a team of plainclothes Halton Regional Police Officers driving unmarked vehicles began monitoring the shooting suspect, identified as Grayson Delong, earlier that day on Sept 23, 2016, after he made an appearance in court in Brampton for a case concerning a break and enter.

They then followed Delong as he made his way to Toronto.

Along the way, Barrs said Delong stopped at Sherway Gardens Mall in Etobicoke, and was observed pulling up to another vehicle and a “paper bag was passed hand to hand.”

“There’s surveillance from Sherway (Gardens) that should be available. If they were doing their surveillance properly there should be a plate from that other vehicle.”

“None of this has been dealt with or explored and as far as I’m concerned it’s a complete travesty.”

From Sherway, the SIU said Delong then drove to Toronto and parked his car on Admiral Road. He exited his car wearing a reflective construction vest and a blonde wig.

He then walked to a park nearby and stayed there for approximately an hour. At this point, the SIU says the surveillance team contacted Toronto police to alert them about Delong, suspecting he was about to commit a robbery.

“He was arrest-able, wandering around in that parkette, for wearing a disguise, for the stolen plates on his car,” Barrs said, adding he never saw any Toronto police arrive at the scene up to the point he was shot.

Delong then got back into his car and drove a couple of blocks to Bedford Road, parking across from the driveway leading to Barrs’ office, the SIU said.

Delong then got out of his car, looked to the south, and re-entered his vehicle. The SIU says the Halton officer who eventually shot Delong took up position in the stairwell of a nearby a building across the street to watch him.

“What were they waiting for? What did they think he was about to do?” Barrs asked.

Then Delong got out of his car again and allegedly fired shots from a pistol at Barrs, two of them striking Barrs, who fell to the ground, crawling back to the doors of his office.

Delong got back into his car, allegedly firing one more shot at Barrs through his driver’s side window as he attempted to drive away.

The SIU said the Halton officer then yelled “police” three times before firing three times into Delong’s car, headed south on Bedford Road.

Another officer blocked Delong’s exit with his vehicle and found him sitting in the passenger’s side suffering from two gunshot wounds. A semi-automatic handgun was allegedly found in the vehicle. Barrs said that two cell phones were also found in the vehicle.

“This guy is allowed to run out of his car, run down the driveway, shoot me twice from behind, turn around and run back down to his car,” Barrs said, adamant that police should have arrested Delong before he got to the driveway of his office.

“As far as I’m concerned should have been arrested when he was in that park with all of those kids.”

Barrs said he wasn’t supposed to be near his office that day and wonders how Delong knew he would be there.

“There was another person there who was watching and looking out for me,” Barrs said.

Barrs also mentioned a motorcyclist who sped away from the scene, heading the wrong way on Prince Arthur Boulevard, as another aspect of the case police have not followed up on.

“It’s amazing – where’s the other guy that called him that day to race over here? Where’s the guy that sent him, where’s the guy at Sherway, where’s the guy that put him up to him,” Barrs said.

At the time of the shooting, sources confirmed to CTV News Toronto that Barrs and Delong did not know each other. Halton Regional Police has only ever said they were following DeLong in relation to a break and enter investigation emanating “west of Toronto.”

In his decision, SIU Director Tony Loparco disagreed with Barrs, saying Delong was “not arrest-able for any offences prior to his approaching the male and discharging a firearm.”

He also found that the officer used justifiable force in firing at Delong, something Barrs says he agrees with.

For its part, Halton Regional Police Chief Stephen Tanner commended the officer that shot Delong and his team, saying they “were able to effectively intervene in a rapidly unfolding, life-threatening incident.”

“While we may never know for sure, these officers quite possibly saved the life of the victim who had been shot.”

Barrs says he will launch civil action against the Halton Regional Police Service, the OPP, Toronto police and the SIU for their roles in the incident and the ensuing investigation. He says the suit will be aimed largely at why law enforcement has so far failed to uncover why he was targeted and by whom.

A trial for Delong, who has been charged with attempted murder and a number of other offences, begins at College Park courts in June.