Accused in Toronto cop's death had 'glazed look' after arrest, court hears

A man accused of killing a Toronto cop had a "glazed" expression after his arrest and told a police officer he didn't know they were cops, the officer testified on Friday. 

Umar Zameer has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup, who died after he was run over by a car in an underground parking garage on July 2, 2021.

Det.-Const. Ryan D'Souza told jurors on Friday that he received an emergency call from another officer on his team to an underground parking lot at Toronto City Hall about 20 minutes after midnight. 

The major crimes unit at the Toronto police 52 division had been investigating a stabbing in Nathan Phillips Square, D'Souza said. The entire team wore plain clothes at the time. Before entering the parking garage, however, he said he put on a black bulletproof vest with the word "police" written on the front and back. 

After entering the P1 level of the parking garage, D'Souza described seeing two of his fellow officers outside of the police minivan they were driving. Both the airbags in the police minivan were deployed, he said. 

The van was parked directly behind a dark coloured BMW sedan, he recalled. D'Souza said he saw a man, Zameer, handcuffed in a kneeling position next to both vehicles.

"He was just staring into the distance," D'Souza said. "He appeared to have a glazed look on his face." The officer added that Zameer looked "not completely present." 

Several meters away, D'Souza saw a pregnant woman — Zameer's wife, Aaida Shaikh — holding a young child and "crying heavily."  

D'Souza asked the officers what had happened. "They said [Northrup] got run over and it's bad," he said. He asked whether Zameer was a suspect in the stabbing that they were investigating and says he was told Zameer was not. 

After another officer was called away, D'Souza said he finished reading Zameer his legal rights after his arrest. He then asked Zameer about what happened. 

Referring to his police notes from the incident in the witness box, D'Souza recalled Zameer saying there had been a stabbing, that he had seen many police cars and he wanted to leave. Zameer then said a man and woman had gotten out of a black van and began hitting his car. 

"He said that he was scared and trying to get away," the officer recalled. "He said that he had no idea that they were police."

Zameer then gestured to D'Souza's vest, saying that the man and woman who approached him didn't have a similar identifier. D'Souza asked if Zameer had seen the officers' badges, but he replied he did not see anything. 

Later, after Zameer was transported to the police station, D'Souza said his expression remained shocked and glazed. "His demeanour did not change," he said.