OFFICER JAMES FORCILLO RECEIVES EARLY PAROLE

Yes this is the case where the officer shot Sammy Yatin eight times while he was on a streetcar by himself clearly experiencing some form of mental/emotional breakdown. Forcillo's first three shots hit the young man and he collapsed on the streetcar. After several seconds Officer Forcillo opened fire six more times hitting the already prone and dying Yatim with five of those six followup shots. Yatim was alone on the streetcar. He was not advancing on any of the multiple officers present. He was not an imminent threat to anyone but himself. Officer Forcillo remarkably was convicted of attempted murder despite Mr. Yatim dying from his gunshot wounds all inflicted by Officer Forcillo. All of these facts are undisputed due to multiple video evidence at the scene which was later broadcast to the public.

Of academic interest only is the actions of another officer who immediately after the multiple shooting of Yatim ran to the body and tasered it. One must assume that that officer was preparing the excuse for the shooting by allowing either Officer Forcillo or his superiors to be able to claim that gee we tasered Mr. Yatim but as that wasn't effective we had to shoot him. Not a good day for police credibility on any front.

Officer Forcillo received a six year prison sentence for attempted murder but served only twenty months. He was granted early parole and according to Peter Rosenthal, Professor of Law at the University of Toronto, his actions post conviction alone should have disqualified him from so doing. These included a conviction for perjury as well as for violating his bail conditions.

The title of this article in the January 24/20 Waterloo Region Record is "Early parole for Forcillo sends terrible message to public, police".