Bystander who filmed video of Sammy Yatim shooting testifies at trial

The bystander who took the iPhone videothe night Sammy Yatim was shot multiple times on a TTC streetcar says he started filming when he heard police with their guns drawn yell "drop the knife."

Martin Baron was walking home from dinner with his wife and son on the night of July 26, 2013 when he saw what he thought was a broken-down streetcar. Baron and his family continued walking until he saw police with their guns drawn run in front of the streetcar. When he began filming, Baron moved to the middle of the street and looked to see what officers were aiming their guns at. That is when he saw Yatim.

Baron testifiedWednesday afternoon at the trial of JamesForcillo, the police officer charged withwith second-degree murder and attempted murderin relation to the shooting. Forcillohas pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

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Baron told court that he heard three shots and then could no longersee Yatim. Officers continued to yell "drop the knife," and then he heard more shots.

Under cross-examination by Forcillo'sdefence lawyer, Peter Brauti, Baron agreed that he found himself in the middle of a stressful situation.

Brauti asked Baron whether he stood by his testimony from the preliminary hearing, when he said that police yelled "drop the f****** knife" a dozen times, when audio played in court showed it was only yelled once.

"Okay, yes," Baron replied.

'Tough guy'

Earlier Wednesday,Duff Campbell, 55, who was one of the last people off the streetcar when Yatim, 18, began brandishinga knife,testifiedthatYatimlooked as though he was high on drugs and was acting like a "tough guy in a Clint Eastwood movie trying to scare us."

Campbelldescribed the knife Yatim was holding as "nasty"and "scary."Campbell saidForcilloseemed agitated and was acting aggressively.

Campbell told the court that Forcillo seemed to be a young, inexperienced officer who took up his weapon quickly.

He added that Forcillo toldYatimnot to take any steps closer to him,which court has heard before when the video from the streetcar was seen in court.

'Do you think he can kill me?'

Campbell said he heard Yatim say under his breath, "do you think you can kill me?,"adding that he thought Yatim was trying to scare him and the other passengers.

Another passenger, 31-year-old Jessica Doyle, said she heard girls shrieking and running towards the front of the streetcar. When she turned in her seatto look back at what was going on, she saw Yatim holding a knife in one hand and his penis in the other.

He walked past her on his way to the front, and Doyle ran out the back doors of the streetcar. She said when the police arrived, she heard male voices yelling at Yatim to drop the knife, and thatshe saw Yatim standing still.

Shortly after, she said she heard gunshots and saw Yatim fall, then more gunshots and the sound of a taser being deployed.

Also on Wednesday,an ESL teacher with the Toronto Catholic board who taught Yatim for four semesters between 2009 and 2011, said Yatim had acquired basic English vocabulary by June 2011.

KristanMcTerman said Yatim could converse in English but would take time to find the right words or phrasing and was not considered fluent. McTerman agreed with the defence that Yatim could understand basic requests in English.