Cops involved in Ejaz Choudry's death fail to justify anonymity order with evidence of risk, lawyer argues
CTV
The five officers involved in the shooting death of Ejaz Choudry have failed to provide the evidence needed to cast aside open court principles and justify shielding their identities from the public, lawyers representing Choudry's family argued at a Tuesday hearing.
The five officers involved in the shooting death of Ejaz Choudry have failed to provide the evidence needed to cast aside open court principles and justify shielding their identities from the public, lawyers representing Choudry's family argued at a Tuesday hearing.
Choudry, who had schizophrenia, was fatally shot by police inside his Mississauga apartment on the evening of June 20, 2020. Officers arrived at the residence at around 5 p.m. after his daughter called for paramedics, according to court filings. He had not taken his medication, she reported, and was experiencing a mental health crisis.
At around 8 p.m., Choudry, still inside the unit, had stopped responding to officers. They then breached the home, two climbing in over the balcony. Within seconds, officers Tasered, fired rubber projectiles, and shot two bullets at Choudry, killing him.
Two of the officers in the room later told investigators with Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) – a provincial arms-length agency that investigates police interactions resulting in serious injury, death, or allegations of sexual assault – that Choudry had moved at them with a knife after they entered the home.
In 2021, the SIU found no reasonable grounds to charge any of the officers with criminal offences and cleared all five, a decision that was met with protests across the city.
With no avenue to lay criminal charges, Choudry's family launched a multi-million-dollar civil lawsuit against Peel Regional Police, its chief, and five unnamed officers in 2022, alleging they turned a "straightforward mental health call" into a "high-risk tactical operation" that resulted in the father of four's death. It is these civil proceedings, and the subsequent public court records produced, in which police have requested their identities be protected under a publication ban and anonymity order, arguing that the public's response to the events has left them fearful for their safety.
