Peel Region’s police board has called an emergency meeting to deal with a $21 million lawsuit launched against Chief Jennifer Evans and several other officers.

Board chairman Amrik Ahluwalia, who told the Star about the meeting on Wednesday, would not rule out an internal investigation into the chief’s alleged conduct after a woman standing in her townhouse kitchen was hit by a stray bullet fired by a Peel officer responding to a nearby incident.

The lawsuit alleges Evans “all but guaranteed” the victim, Suzan Zreik, who was a second-year police foundations student in college, a future in policing when the chief visited her hospital room shortly after the shooting.

“The board is taking this very seriously,” Ahluwalia said, acknowledging that the board is also named in the lawsuit, but, he added, only because it is Evans’ employer. A number of other Peel police officers are named in the lawsuit, which was filed by Zreik in Brampton Superior Court Friday.

The allegations made in the lawsuit, which seeks damages for assault and battery and negligence causing bodily harm, among other things, have not been tested in court.

“We have a special meeting called … the board is meeting with our solicitors. We take this so seriously that we have called a special meeting at this time, just before Christmas, when people are away, to talk about (the lawsuit) how we are going to deal with it, because we have to address it,” Ahluwalia said. “That’s the message I want to leave with people, that we are taking this very seriously and to call a special meeting on such a short notice is an indication of that.”

In a statement emailed to the Star Wednesday, Evans said “these allegations are without merit, and we will defend the matter vigorously in court.

“We are restricted from discussing the evidence which makes it difficult to get an accurate picture of what occurred,” she added.

The lawsuit alleges that “Evans knew at the material time the plaintiff was suffering from a gunshot wound inflicted by an officer under her command, and that any dealings with her should only be conducted by investigators of the Special Investigations Unit,” according to Zreik’s statement of claim.

Peel officers fired 19 bullets on Queen Frederica Dr. in Mississauga on March 20, 2015 — 11 struck Marc Ekamba-Boekwa, who was reportedly approaching officers with a kitchen knife. One of the bullets hit Zreik, who was in her kitchen cutting a lime at the time. She was never told which officer was responsible for firing the shot that struck her.

The lawsuit also names as defendants three police officers — Branden Dary, Adam Paiement and Jennifer Whyte — who, according to the lawsuit, were on scene that night and fired at Ekamba-Boekwa, 22, who died shortly after.

Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, which investigates police encounters that result in death, serious injury or alleged sexual assault, cleared the officers of any criminal wrongdoing.

Zreik alleges Evans visited her in hospital hours after she had been shot and assured her she would “do whatever she could” to help with her career goals. The chief allegedly gave Zreik her business card with her personal telephone number handwritten on it, according to the lawsuit.

Asked if the board might conduct its own internal investigation into the allegations against Evans, Ahluwalia said, “We want to put our collective heads together. We will have our counsel there, so we’re going to look at what options we have, how do we proceed forward.”

With from Jacques Gallant and Torstar News Service

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