A Saskatoon man whose nephew was fatally shot by police in Toronto last summer is throwing his support behind Black Lives Matter protesters and calling for another inquiry into the death.
“I believe there are more facts than what has been released now into this case,” Senos Timon told CTV News in Saskatoon.
Timon’s nephew, Andrew Loku, who was 45, was shot and killed July 5 during a confrontation with police at an apartment in Toronto.
Last week, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit announced the officer who pulled the trigger will not be charged. The announcement sparked protests from Black Lives Matter groups in Toronto and calls from Loku’s family for further investigation.
Timon has not yet been given the SIU report, but said he believes the investigation does not include all the evidence in the case. He’s concerned the investigative body did not consider all eyewitness accounts of the shooting and of the events leading up to it.
“The ultimate goal is we want to see that every evidence… is taken into consideration, whatever that result will lead towards,” Timon said.
He and his family support the Black Lives Matter protesters.
“The family is supportive of the protests, because everyone believes justice needs to be served. We’re not trying to say that somebody has to be persecuted… but we need to ensure a fair investigation and report is actually conducted,” he said.
“Based on cases that involve police shootings… many of those cases tend to have the results of police not being criminally responsible or not being charged.”
The SIU said in a media release last week the officer who shot Loku used justifiable force.
The group’s investigation included autopsy and toxicology results, forensic evidence, 911 recordings, eyewitness statements and a partial video from the scene.
The officer was also interviewed and his duty notes were handed over for the investigation.
According to the SIU, two police officers were called July 5, 2015, to the Toronto apartment building after receiving reports that Loku, armed with a hammer, was threatening to kill a woman.
The officers confronted Loku in a third-floor hallway and ordered him to stop and drop the hammer.
He was shot twice after refusing to drop the weapon and moving within two to three metres of the officer who pulled the trigger, the release stated.
Timon is worried some eyewitness accounts weren’t considered in the investigation. He wants to see his nephew’s case spark change.
“This is no longer about Andrew, but it’s also about other victims that might… fall into the same scenario as Andrew.”
The family is currently seeking legal advice regarding their next step, but Timon said he’d like to see a coroner’s inquest into the death or see another independent body conduct an investigation.
The SIU is an arm’s length agency that investigates reports involving police when there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
Loku was a father of five, according to Timon. His children live in South Sudan.
--- with files from CTV Toronto and The Canadian Press
