Call an inquest into Andrew Loku's death, Canadian Mental Health Association says

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)is joining a chorus of calls for a coroner's inquest into the death of Andrew Loku, the Toronto man who was fatally shotby police in July 2015.

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"We have evidence that Andrew was calm at the time of his shooting," CMHATorontoexecutive director Steve Lurie told CBC's Metro Morning onFriday.

Metro Morning7:23Loku Inquest?

He was 45 years old when he was fatally shot last summer by Toronto police. Matt Galloway spoke with Steve Lurie. He is the Executive Director of the Canadian Mental Health Association's Toronto office.

He saidwhile theCMHA provided the Special Investigations Unit with that evidence, "they came to a different conclusion and that's the purpose of having an inquest."

The Special Investigations Unit, which investigates all cases in Ontario in which civilians are killed or injured by police officers,determined that Loku, 45, was shot by Toronto police around midnight on July 5, 2015.

The shootinghappened at an apartment complex near Rogers and Caledonia Roads, after Lokurefused to comply with demands to drop a hammer and threatened to kill a friend of a guest in the apartment.

Three investigators and three other forensic investigators were assigned to probe the incident. They determined that the officer did not exceed "the ambit of justifiable force in the circumstances" and that no charges would be laid.

'Limited to looking at police actions'

Luriesays theCMHAhanded video evidence over to the SIU, showingLokuleaving the apartment where the conflict started. He says the video also showsLokuwalking slowly towards police with the hammer lowered in his hand.

Luriebelieves the "issue" thatLokuwas having with one of his neighbours had been resolved by the time police arrived, "yetwe have the findings of the SIU, which were pretty much limited to looking at police actions and not what had happened during the event itself."

'He was doing okay at the time'

Lokulived in a facility that housed people with mental health issues andLuriesaidhe had been doing well there.

"He had just graduated from college.He was a respected member of the community. He had formed a band ...so the evidence we have is that he was doing okay at the time,"Luriesaid.

Regardless of whatLokumay have been going through that night,Luriesays, "in this instance, unfortunately,once again non-violent de-escalation was not used."

For Lurie, that is the most troubling aspect of the fatal police shooting.

"If he was demonstrating behaviour that was not normal, there are police crisis intervention teams that could have been called to meet with him," Lurie said.

LuriesaysLoku'sdeathhighlights the need for police to improve their efforts totrainofficersandemploynon-violent de-escalation techniques.

Calls for an inquestintoLoku'sdeath have already comefrom hisfamily, the African Canadian Legal Clinic, former chair of the Toronto Police Service BoardAlokMukherjeeand from the Black Lives Matter movement, which staged aprotestoutside police headquarters for two weeks.

Protesters have also been calling on forcharges againstthe officer who shot and killedLoku, and the relese of the officer's name.

Lurie says aninquest into the Toronto man'sdeath would at least help people "get to the bottom of what actually happened and how these tragedies can be prevented in the future."