‘The vehicle is littered with bullet holes:’ 1 person critically injured after being shot by Toronto police officer

The province's Special Investigations Unit has been called in to investigate after a person was sent to the hospital in critical condition.

Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating after a man was shot by a police officer and critically injured following a traffic stop in North York on Sunday.

The incident happened near Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West at around 10:50 p.m.

According to a news release issued by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), a Toronto police officer stopped a car in the area for a Highway Traffic Act infraction.

“There was an interaction, and two police officers discharged their firearms,” the civilian agency said.

“One man was struck and was taken to hospital where he remains in life-threatening condition. The man has not yet been identified.”

Images from the scene show several bullet holes in the windshield of a vehicle, which the SIU later confirmed is a Lexus.

Security footage obtained by CTV News shows an officer talking with the driver behind the wheel.

A second officer can be seen on the opposite side of the car, standing beside two people.

The officer on the driver’s side then suddenly backs away and begins firing their weapon toward the front windshield of the car before the second officer begins firing from the rear.

The two people who were standing with the second officer are then seen scrambling to get out of the way.

The responding officers were not injured, Toronto police and the SIU confirmed.

The Special Investigations Unit, which is called in to investigate whenever police are involved in an incident that results in death, serious injury, or allegations of sexual assault, has invoked its mandate, and will be probing the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

“There was a total of six occupants in the vehicle that was stopped,” SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette told reporters on Monday.

“Early information indicates that there was an exchange of gunfire. That’s what Toronto Police have told us.”

But Denette said it’s too early to confirm if that information is accurate or not, or whether all six occupants were still in the car when the officers started firing their weapons.

“The vehicle is littered with bullet holes. There are a lot of cartridge cases. We don’t know which cartridge cases belong to which weapon, or if there may have been a third weapon, but we believe there is a firearm in that vehicle.”

Denette also could not confirm who the Lexus belongs to, but said the traffic stop was initiated because it didn’t have front licence plates.

“I have heard reports that there were some young people in the vehicle. However, I just simply don’t have that information to confirm at this time.”

The SIU has assigned five investigators and two forensic investigators to the case. Two subject officials and two witness officials have also been designated.