He says he was assigned to 14 Division -- as a primary response officer.
Says taught to shoot to stop the threat not to kill
Judge is in. Waiting for jury.
Sammy Yatim's mother is in the front row on the right of the public gallery. Forcillo's wife and supporters are sitting on the left side behind the defence.
Good morning. Waiting for the Forcillo Trial to start.
Forcillo says the fired the first set of shots because Yatim was armed with a knife and he thought Yatim was in the process of getting off the streetcar. He says he fired the second set of shots because he thought Yatim was getting up.
The defence's first witness is the accused: Const. James Forcillo
Judge is wrapping for the day. See you back here tomorrow.
Says firing warning shots are very dangerous.
Brauti asked his client how good a shot he is. Forcillo said "I'm good enough to pass but by no means am I a sharpshooter. That's something I struggle with."
Defence is also pinning a Toronto Police college "target" --the sillouette of a person onto a board. Forcillo showed the jury where an officer has to get 45 out of 50 shots in the centre body mass to pass Toronto Police Standards
Defence has put up a slide of the shooting range at the Ontario Police College.
In four days of simulation training, most scenerios revolved around emotionally disturbed persons,says Forcillo
"The first day they teach you to never give up" Says the trainers work the officers to exhaustion but they can't give up because their colleagues are counting on them
After finished training, he went right into Ontario Police training for 6 weeks.
He said during defence tactics training he ordered someone to put down a knife. That person disobeyed and Forcillo "shot" him from 15 feet away. That's a greater distance than the distance between him and Yatim the night Yatim was killed.
Forcillo speakinig in clear voice. Says edged weapons can cause severe damage
Defence showing a second police training video on sharp objects used as weapons
Forcillo said he's also taken online training.
Forcillo said his training also taught him when someone is coming at you with an edged weapon, you "draw your firearm, keep your distance and watch his hands."
Defence now showing a training video of edged weapons
He said his training taught him he should fire as many times as necessary to stop the threat. And someone who is advancing with a knife poses a danger.
Says he was taught at some point have to draw a line in the sand - where that is is different for everyone. That is influenced by personal experience and one's proficiency with their firearm. "One is not more right than another."
Says was given one class in edged weapons or knives. He said he was taught that someone with a knife is dangerous: "It never jams, it's silent,, doesn't need to be reloaded, and can cause significant damage."
He says he was given some hand to hand combat.
His lawyer asked whether his training taught Forcillo what volume or tone should be used when dealing with someone. Forcillo said it's left up to the officer to decide what is appropriate. He said In some circumstances you can start a conversation and escalate to shouting and in others you can start shouting commands and if the subject obeys you can lower your tone.
Said if someone draws as knife, an officer can draw a firearm
Forcillo talking about that specific part of training: Says police are trained to assess, plan and act throughout the entire operation.
Says use of force and defensive tactics are posted all over the walls of classrooms for police training. Says very important part of training.
He got in class and applied Toronto police training which included use of force, driving, defensive tactics.
Has two daughters 4 and 6 years old
Then hired by Toronto Police cadet in 2009.
Forcillo said it was a busy place in terms of prisoner volume. Did it for three years
Says in 2006 he was hired as a security officer for the OPP at Queen's Park. A month and a half later hired as court security for Toronto Police at Old City Hall. Duties included managing prisoners, searching members of the public as they come in.
Moved back to Canada in 2003. Rented a room from a family who turns out to be his wife's parents. Forcillo said he was the first one in family to get post secondary education.
She died and he moved to LA to deal with father who was laid off from job. Family lost status to stay in the US.
was military police officer. Started police training at Seneca in 2000 but mother who was living in LA got sick so he packed up his life here and moved to LA to take care of her in fall of 2000.
Said family first, always.
Forcillo said he was interested in being a police officer since age 12. Father lost job so was looking for stable job.
Forcillo said he went to Brebeuf HS for grade 9 -- same school Sammy Yatim went to.
We've learned in crown's case the first volley of shots killed 18 year old Yatim.
The jury is being brought in. It's a full courtroom here today.
First up: The judge will be giving his reasons for his decision regarding a voire dire that was heard earlier in the day. We won't be able to report on it because it was heard outside the jury. So the beginning of the defence case may be very short today.
Forcillo and his defence team are in court. Forcillo's wife is sitting behind the defence team along with more than a dozen supporters.
