No charges in death of Ejaz Choudry, 62-year-old shot and killed by police while in crisis

Ontario's police watchdog has ruled there will be no criminal chargesagainst police in the death of a 62-year-old father of four shot and killed by an officer last summer after his family called a non-emergency line for help while he was in crisis.

In a decision released Tuesday,Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director Joseph Martino concluded the Peel Regional Police officer who fired two bullets into Ejaz Choudry's chest acted reasonably when heopened firefrom the balcony of Choudry's lockedMississauga, Ont., apartment on June 20, 2020.

Choudry, the report says, was armed with a 20-centimetre-long kitchen knife when police kicked in his balcony door and shouted at himin English a language his family has said he didn't properly understand to drop his weapon. The officer in charge wasconcerned Choudry, who had schizophrenia and was not taking his medication,was at risk of self-harm, Martino said.

A statement sent to CBC News on behalf of the Choudry family by their lawyers said the family was "deeply disappointed" but not surprised by the SIU's decision.

"Ejaz committed no crime. He did not deserve any of this," says the statement, which pointsout that police claimed they needed to intervene for Choudry's safety, yet killed him within seconds of accessing the apartment.

WATCH | Family of Ejaz Choudry reacts to news that no officers will be charged in his death:

Hassan Choudhary reacts to news that police won't be charged in the death of his uncle, Ejaz Choudry

3 years ago

Duration 1:07

The family of Ejaz Choudry say they are "deeply disappointed' but not surprised after Ontario's police watchdog opted not to lay charges against the police officer who shot and killed him while he was in crisis inside his apartment unit last June.

The statement says police, who hadbeen on scene for roughly three hours, entered the unit against the family's wishes and asks why family members were prevented from speaking with Choudrybefore police went in.

"If there are no reasonable grounds to lay charges in this case, then when will the SIU ever take action for a police killing?"

Officer declined to speak withSIU

Two of the three officers on the balcony who spoke with investigators claimedChoudrymoved toward them, knife in hand, after the balcony was breached a claim for which Martino notes they are the only source ofdirect evidence. After a stun gun and plastic bullets failed to subdue Choudry, the report says, the third officer opened fire (the SIUdoesn't name the officer).

The officer who shotChoudryrefused to speak to the SIU or turn over his notes, as is allowed under Ontario's Police Services Act. All that is known of his perspectiveare the words another officer reportedly heard him say immediately after the shooting, the report says:"I had to do it. I had no choice."

"Police officers are bound by a duty to protect life, which extends to the general public and not just victims of crime," Martinosaysin his decision. "The law is clear that police officers are not required to measure the force they used with exactitude or to a nicety.

"As such, I believe [the officer's] resort to his firearm was objectively reasonable, necessary and proportional to the threat posed by Mr. Choudry, notwithstanding the tragic loss of life it caused."

Ontario's SIU investigates all cases involving police that resultin serious injury or death, as well asallegations of sexual assault.

'He thought the police would shoot him'

For a brief moment during the approximately three-hour encounter, there had been a glimmer of hope.

Choudry's daughter and another family member spoke to himfrom the hallway outsidethe apartment, asking him to come out of his homeand give his knife over to police. Choudry opened the door but closed it soon afterward.

"He said he would not come out because he thought the police would shoot him," the report says.

Within a few hours, by 8:38 p.m., he was dead.

Earlier that day, Choudry, who had been hospitalized for psychiatric care, decided to leave the hospital against medical advice. Around 5 p.m., his daughter called a non-emergency line requesting medical assistance for her father, who appeared confused and reportedly had a pocketknife.

Paramedics arrived at the apartment first, followed by police, who tried to speak to Choudry through the apartmentdoor. Choudrytold the officers to leave.

Instead, his daughter entered the unit, keeping behind two officers. Inside, they found Choudry in a bedroom seated on a prayer mat and asked to see his knife. His daughter translated their words into Punjabi and according to the report, he revealed a large kitchen knife from under the mat "pointing towardthe officers."

Again, he asked them to leave.

Attempts to communicate with Choudry continued from the hallway outside the apartment, but Choudry refused to leave, saying he was fearful of the police.

Choudry 'difficult' to understand: report

At about 6 p.m., tactical officers took control of the scene and asked the family to go downstairs and not communicate with Choudry. Officers remained at the door trying to "reassure" Choudry that paramedics were there to help but the report suggests communication was "difficult," and that he was only occasionally responding in English.

A Punjabi-speaking police officer finally arrived at about 6:45 p.m. along with more tactical officers.

Choudry didn't warm to the Punjabi-speaking officer either but "confirmed that he had no intention of hurting himself," before beginning to pray loudly. He also reportedly warned police not to come inside again, and to "watch what happens" if they did.

Meanwhile, the officer in charge began forming a "deliberate action plan," which would see one tactical team enterthe apartment through the balcony, while another would enter five seconds later through the front door. It was 7:42 p.m. before a crisis negotiating team was called and they were another hour away.

Sometime before 8p.m., the report says, Choudry stopped communicating and there was no sound from the apartment. After about 20 minutes without communication, the officer in charge decided to execute the action plan.

Video posted to social media in the aftermath of Choudry's death captured what happened next.

WATCH | Tactical officers breach door of Ejaz Choudry's balcony in June 2020:

SIU investigating after an officer shot and killed a man in Mississauga

4 years ago

Duration 0:16

Video taken by a bystander shows tactical officers responding to a call at an apartment building on Morning Star Drive on Saturday. Later a man was killed. (Ibrahim Hindy/Twitter)

Officers on the balcony kicked in the door, repeatedly shouting, "Put down the knife." Seconds later, there arethe sound of gunshots.

A post-mortem examination determinedChoudry died of gunshot wounds to the chest.

Not a departure from what 'reasonable person' would do: SIU

After he was shot, the report says, Choudry fell backward onto the floor with the knife still in his hand. The officers again commanded him to drop the knife, the report says, with one officer firing rubber bullets at him when he did not appear to comply. Another then kicked his arm, "resulting in the knife falling to the floor."

Instead of helping him and preventing him from killing himself,you go in and kill him?- Hassan Choudhary

Choudry's family has said he was a frail manwho suffered from diabetes, had a history of heart issues and recently underwent a lung surgery. The report says the officer in charge was advised "Choudry could barely walk or breathe."

"Faced with these concerns, and being unable to gain a visual on Mr. Choudry,[the officer in charge]was in a position where he had to weigh the risk ofnot acting in the event Mr. Choudry was in medical distress," Martino writes, arguing he doesn't accept that Choudry could not have walked towardofficers.

Despite that plan setting "in train a series of events with devastating consequences," he writes, the move was nota marked "departure from what a reasonable person faced with the same choices would do."

As for whether Peel police's mobile crisis unit, consisting of a police officer and mental health professional, should have been called in, Martino writes that they were "busy at another incident." Regardless, the officer in charge told the SIU the mobile crisis team would not have been deployed in this case because a knife wasinvolved a theme that has also come up in other recent deadly interactions involving police, including that of Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto.

Speaking about that case, former Toronto police chief Mark Saunders previously told reporters, "There's no way that I would put a nurse in a knife fight."

'We recognize that more has to be done,' police chief says

As yet another case in a string of recent fatal police encounters involving people in crisis, includingthat of Korchinski-Paquet, D'Andre Campbell and Clive Mensah,the report acknowledges "there have been concerns that police presence can escalate these situations and make them worse."

"In Mr. Choudry's case, his paranoia about police played a significant role in his death and these concerns have obvious validity," Martino writes.

Still, he says, "while questions about police reform are of clear importance, systemic issues in policing can only play a role in the SIU's decision making where they are relevant to the potential criminal culpability of an individual police officer."

Ultimately, he concludes,"I am not reasonably satisfied for the foregoing reasons that the shooting of Mr. Choudry amounted to legally unjustified force or was the culmination of a criminally negligent course of conduct."

Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappahissued a statement following the decisionoffering his condolences to the family.

"The pain and grief felt in the community and within our organization has been profound," he said.

"We recognize that more has to be done to support those in crisis, and police should not be the primary responders called upon to manage mental health calls."

He acknowledged that"gaps still exist" and saidthe force is working on expanding itsmobile crisis team program.

• LISTEN |Ejaz Choudry would 'be here today' if police really wanted to help, says nephew

But for Choudry'sfamily, who had held out hope for accountability in his death, news of the decision only raises more questions questions they'll now have to wait for a coroner's inquest to answer.

"This is an elderly man in his own home. He poses no threat to anyone anyone at all. And instead of providing safety and providing help, it took eight seconds to just shoot him and kill him," nephew Hassan Choudhary told CBC News. "Instead of helping him and preventing him from killing himself,you go in and kill him?"

"Regardless of race, regardless of mental condition, physical condition, we should treat each other as humans and we feel that as a Canadian citizen, he wasn't given that right.

"He wasn't treated as a human."