" -- "'He was my baby. I know this will turn out like Sammy Yatim," the mother told VICE, making note that Alex was a good friend of police shooting victim Sammy Yatim, who was killed on a Toronto streetcar back in 2013." --Listening to the family... and apparently that's where 99% of the current media narrative originates... it seems that Alex Wetlaufer was a model citizen...
-- "Since graduating high school, Alex had focused on working out, had recently completed the army’s required aptitude tests and was 'just waiting for the call', [brother] Michael said, adding that his brother was in peak physical condition.Well, that certainly sounds impressive... working out for 3 years to realise a career ambition... inspired by your dead father, no less.
I'm pretty sure that most wannabe soldiers just show up and enlist, but what the heck. According to his brother, Alex was a focused, determined tough-minded individual. We're talking Luke Skywalker material here. Still, it's a little hard to fathom why this young man had been sitting around in Toronto's too often squalid Community Housing, waiting years to "get his soldier on."
When you cut to Alex's mother, she, not surprisingly, paints a somewhat different picture...
-- "'Wendy Wettlaufer, Alex’s mother, told CP24 that someone from the family was on the phone with him moments before he was shot. 'He was crying, saying that he’s being surrounded.'" --Wait a minute... you're on the run from an 'armed to the teeth' SWAT Team... (why run and make yourself a target if you're an innocent bystander?) and then you stop and make a hysterical phone call to your mom... AND THEN she hears you being murdered? That sounds like the plot of a really bad movie.
RELATED: Ask yet another family member
She wasn't there, she didn't see, but hells bells, let's go with that anyway...
-- "The sister of the 21-year-old man shot and killed by police officers in North York says she believes he was unarmed at the time of the incident." --She 'believes' he was unarmed? Sweet Baby Jebus. Is this what they teach in J-School, or is it yet another example of CBC's "just phone it in" activism?
Perhaps, instead of career military, Alex Wetlaufer would have been more suited to social work... you know, play to your experience...
The family (Alex was one of ten children) has lived in the Toronto Community Housing neighbourhood for more than 30 years.Of course, if Justin has his way, our military will all be turned into unarmed social justice advocates anyway.
LAST WORD: If the shoot was a mistake, it was a big one...
Three separate SWAT trained officers apparently felt Alex Wetlaufer was threatening their lives...
The civilian agency released new information Wednesday, confirming that three officers discharged their firearms during the incident, though it’s not clear how many times Wettlaufer was shot or which of the officers’ bullets hit him.Unfortunately, unlike Alex's family, the officers are not permitted to speak about the incident...
The civilian watchdog says it cannot reveal whether Wettlaufer was armed because the investigation is ongoing. The vital piece of information may not be provided until the probe is completed, a process that typically takes several months, or up to a year.UPDATE: Here's a crazy thought... let's talk to somebody who isn't related to the deceased...
-- "Sources have told CP24 that the man was armed with a handgun when he was shot. He was rushed to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead." --UPDATE2: The other side of the story
-- "Toronto police officers from the force’s tactical unit negotiated with Alex Wettlaufer for at least 15 minutes before firing their weapons, killing the young man who a police source says was armed with either a real or replica gun.And it appears as though he may not have been eligible to enlist in the military after all...
Court documents show Wettlaufer was facing three criminal charges at the time of his death, dating back to an October 2014 incident. Alongside three other accused, Wettlaufer faced one of robbery for allegedly stealing a cellphone and one count of assault causing bodily harm, for allegedly attacking two people..Wonder how the family feels about being manipulated by the media now?
Wettlaufer alone was charged with the unauthorized possession of a knife that opens through the use of centrifugal force — a weapon that requires a licence.
All of the charges against Wettlaufer were before the court at the time of his death." --
UPDATE3: Hammer Time
Loku said to the officers: “What you gonna do, come on, shoot me.”Sew... reap... case closed.
UPDATE4: The Usual Dumbsticks