Family, friends mark Sammy Yatim’s 19th birthday on Sunday
Posted November 3, 2013 8:15 pm.
Last Updated January 21, 2016 2:18 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Sammy Yatim would have turned 19 years old on Sunday, and his family and friends gathered in Toronto’s west end to mourn the teen who was shot and killed on a streetcar during a confrontation with police last summer.
The commemoration occurred at the corner of Bellwoods Avenue and Dundas Street West, the spot where the teen died on July 27.
“I want my son back,” said Sammy’s mother Sahar Bahadi, who wrote on a poster of her son taped to a hydro pole, “I’d give my life to see you again.”
Yatim was shot multiple times by police during a standoff on an empty TTC streetcar. The incident was captured on cellphone and surveillance video on which nine shots can be heard — seconds after shouts for Yatim to drop the knife.
Yatim was allegedly waving a knife earlier at passengers. The story made headlines around the world and called Toronto police tactics into question.
Const. James Forcillo, 30, was arrested and formally charged with second-degree murder on Aug. 20 and granted bail only hours later.
There are several ongoing investigations into the shooting, including one by the province’s police watchdog, an internal police review and an investigation by the province’s ombudsman.
