No charges against York officer who fatally shot Vaughan condo gunman, SIU finds
No charges will be laid after a police officer fatally shot a man who went on a shooting rampage at a Vaughan condo building in December, after an investigation by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) found the officer was acting in self-defence.
The SIU, which is Ontario's police watchdog, released its findings by director Joseph Martino Monday. The report says there are "no reasonable grounds" to believe the officer committed a crime when opening fire on the suspected shooter, 73-year-old Francesco Villi, last December.
The report details a standoff between the officer and the suspect, where the suspect raised his gun and refused to put it down.
"The situation called for the immediate stopping power of a weapon from a distance, that is, the situation called for the use of a firearm," the report says. The officer used "reasonable force," as he was confronted by a suspect holding a gun that had been used to shoot others in the building, it adds.
The agency began its investigation after Villi died after being shot by a York Regional Police officer on the third floor of the Bellaria Residences condo tower north of Toronto on Dec. 18.
Villi encountered an officer after he fatally shot five people at the upscale building, the report says. Victims were found on several floors of the building
Report details standoff with officer
The report, which includes interviews with witnesses and excerpts of 911 calls, explains the officer reached the third floor of the building and saw a man attempting to enter a unit.
The officer called out, "Hey," thinking at first that the gunman was merely a resident attempting to enter his unit. When the man turned around, the officer noticed he was holding a pistol and told him to drop the weapon.
"The Complainant made it clear he was not going to do that, telling the officer to shoot him," the report says.
The officer told the suspect he did not want to shoot him and again told him to drop his weapon.
"When the Complainant failed to do so, and instead raised his right hand with the pistol as if readying to point it at the officer, the SO discharged his weapon four times," the report says.
The suspect, which the SIU has previously identified as Villi, was shot twice in the torso. After he collapsed, other officers arrived and performed CPR. Villi could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead.
An autopsy found his cause of death was gunshot wounds to the chest.
Villi had dispute with condo board
Villi lived in the condo building and allegedly attacked people in three separate units, police said in December. Court documents showed that he had a longstanding dispute with the building's condo board and filed a lawsuit against six directors in 2020.
He alleged the board members had "committed acts of crime and criminality" and detailed that an electrical room beneath his unit was causing him to suffer due to electromagnetic waves. Justice Joseph Di Luca tossed the case in summer 2022, calling it "frivolous."
In 2018, the board took legal action against Villi, saying he had been threatening and intimidating board members.
Police identified the victims of the shooting as Rita Camilleri, 57, Vittorio Panza, 79, Russell Manock, 75, Lorraine Manock, 71, and Naveed Dada, 59. A sixth victim was also injured.
