The province’s police watchdog alleges that a teen shot and killed by police in Aurora last October apparently reported a fake break-and-enter in an attempt to “lure” officers to his home to “shoot and kill” them.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) announced Thursday that there are no reasonable grounds to charge the four officers involved in the deadly shooting, which occurred on the night of Oct. 30, 2024, outside a home on a residential street in Aurora.
Police said officers responded to a 911 call about a break-and-enter in progress at a home on Downey Circle, located near St. John’s Sideroad and Bayview Avenue, at around 7:30 p.m.
According to the SIU, the caller told 911 dispatchers that he heard noises coming from inside the garage and banging on the door.
When the first officer arrived on scene, the SIU said, he parked his cruiser and began walking toward the home when he was “met by gunfire coming from the second floor of the house,” the SIU said. The officer, who was uninjured, ran west to escape the gunfire.
The SIU said they later learned that the gunfire came from the same person who had called to report the break-in.
“The complainant had fired the shots, discharging upwards of 20 rounds from a rifle,” the SIU said in its report. “Shortly, he emerged from the home wearing a tactical vest and holding a shotgun.”
The SIU said that from a position of cover at the west end of the street, the officer shone his flashlight at the complainant, ordering him to drop the weapon.
“The Complainant told the officer to shut up and said he would kill him, after which he fired several rounds from the shotgun,” the SIU report read, adding that the officer was struck in the face by a pellet from one of the rounds.
At that point, the SIU said, other officers had arrived at the scene and were positioned at the west end of the street.
“With the shotgun in hand, the complainant made his way westward towards the officers along the front of the homes situated on the southside of Downey Circle,” the report continued.
He stopped on the driveway of another residence, where officers once again ordered him to drop his weapon, according to the report.
The SIU said the man yelled a profanity at the officers before firing a shot in their direction.
Teen ‘heavily armed himself,’ SIU alleges
One officer returned fire, discharging a single found from her semi-automatic pistol, the SIU said.
The gunman was struck by the bullet and subsequently fell, but returned to his feet while holding a machete, according to the SIU report. He continued down the driveway toward the officers, the report stated.
“The subject officials fired multiple rounds and the complainant fell again, this time on the roadway,” the report read.
“The complainant rolled to his right in the direction of the machete he had dropped, and was met and struck by a second volley of shots. The complainant fell back and did not move again.”
Paramedics arrived and began to care for the teen but he was later pronounced dead at around 8:07 p.m.
“For whatever reason, it seems the complainant had set in motion a plan to lure police to his home where it appeared he intended to shoot and kill officers responding to a fake report of a break and enter in progress,” SIU Director Joseph Martino said in his report.
“On my assessment of the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe that any of the subject officials committed a criminal offence in connection with the complainant’s death,”
The SIU said evidence collected as part of the investigation included officer and civilian witness accounts, along with video footage that captured the incident.
The report notes that three of the four witness officers who fired their weapons did not participate in interviews with the SIU, as was their legal right.
Martino said that the teen “heavily armed himself with firearms and a machete,” and had fired “multiple rounds” at the first officer to arrive on scene as well as the other officers who arrived later.
“The officers’ lives were in immediate peril and it was imperative that the complainant be incapacitated as quickly as possible,” the report read.
“I am unable to reasonably conclude that any of the subject officials fired their weapons without believing it was necessary to do so to protect themselves from a reasonably apprehended attack.”
Martino noted that while the number of shots fired by the officers on scene “was high,” it did not exceed “what was reasonable in the circumstances.”
“The gunfire occurred in rapid succession over three distinct phases during which the officers were either being shot at or reasonably believed they were about to be fired on,” he wrote.
Parents release statement
The teen killed in the incident has been identified by family as 17-year-old Mikail Rashid.
In a statement released on behalf of Rashid’s parents, the lawyer representing the family, Nader Hasan, said the SIU report “does not describe” the son they knew.
“Mikail was a kind, loving, straight-A student, who literally refused to even hurt spiders,” the statement read.
“This report will not be his legacy. We will continue to conduct our own investigation and try to get to the bottom of what really happened.”
