A Toronto cop was badly injured in a stabbing out front of a downtown Tim Hortons on Friday afternoon – and the chaotic aftermath was captured on video that was posted on social media.
Toronto Police say the wounded officer and the suspected stabber, who was shot in the melee at College St. and Lansdowne Ave., were both rushed to hospital via an emergency run shortly after 1:30 p.m.
The injured officer – a rookie who has only been on the job a few months at 14 Division – was stabbed in the leg.
The cop, identified as Const. Manraj Mahal, was initially in and out of consciousness but the Toronto Police Association released a statement saying the officer’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Sources say the officer responded to a call at a home for a suicidal person. When that person was not at the home, the officer went to a nearby Tim Hortons and located the man.
In the process of trying to make an arrest under the Mental Health Act, the officer was stabbed – allegedly by the person he was trying to arrest.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit is investigating the police-involved shooting and confirmed two officers were responding to a call for a “person in crisis” when they approached the man outside of the Tim Hortons.
“There was some type of struggle with two officers that were own scene,” SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette said at the scene. “And during the struggle a man produced a knife and stabbed an officer.”
She said it’s believed the injured officer then opened fire after two attempted by a second cop to deploy a conducted energy weapon were “ineffective.”
It was not immediately known how many rounds were fired.
The suspect, whose name has not been released, reportedly had no vital signs when he was rushed to hospital, but his condition was later upgraded to stable.
