[ninty]

Video Report:
http://www.pulse24.com/News/Top_Story/2 ... eo-5-2.asx
http://www.pulse24.com/News/Top_Story/2 ... eo-6-2.asx

Unedited Video:
http://www.pulse24.com/In_The_Raw/Raw_V ... eo-5-2.asx


[quote:cc3c0] Wielding two ominous butcher knives, a seemingly crazed man confronted a slew of Toronto police officers at the corner of Yonge and Wellesley early Tuesday morning.

“Shoot me!” he taunted the officers, who surrounded him with guns drawn in a tense street standoff.

Death may have been his wish, but Toronto’s finest blew out the candles on his hopes for extinction, diffusing a potentially fatal confrontation by pinning the man between a bicycle stand and a police cruiser.

When the car backed up, the suspect was unhinged from his momentary prison. But it wouldn’t be long before he was in a more conventional form of custody.

Finally admitting defeat, he tossed both knives to the ground and police closed in, using pepper spray to further incapacitate their unstable nemesis.

The man, believed to be in his 30s, suffered a broken wrist in the ordeal and was ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation.

Stunned witnesses seemed to think police handled the situation appropriately.

“I think that they were justified for sure,” said Magda Majewski. “And I think that potentially they might have been justified in using more force, but I think they were clearly sort of concerned about him afterwards and taking care of him afterwards and washing out his eyes and, you know, getting him medical help.”

Witnesses say the man panhandles in the neighbourhood and may be homeless.

During the 15 minute ordeal, which began around 7am, some bystanders were apparently screaming at police to use a taser on the man, not knowing that only E.T.F. officers are currently allowed to carry the weapons.

The incident will surely spark more debate on the use of the stun guns in the police force, something former Chief Julian Fantino unsuccessfully fought for during his tenure.

In the meantime, former police officer Jim Downs believes the man at the centre of the frightening struggle is lucky to be alive.

“Maybe another officer, not knowing what's going through his mind or her mind at that particular time, may have elected to use a firearm and been very justified to use that firearm. So he's a lucky man.

“This is a classic example where a taser would have been appropriate tool for them, because really they only have two tools at their option. One really. They had their firearms, and the officer decided to use his car as a second tool.”

* The province’s Special Investigations Unit arrived on the scene, and will investigate the incident.[/quote:cc3c0]

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