Andrew Loku was traumatized from kidnapping, torture in South Sudan

Three weeks before he died, Andrew Loku posed proudly for a photo in his graduation gown, eager to begin a new chapter in his life, coroner’s court heard Monday at the first day of a detailed probe into the high-profile police shooting death.

“He was excited, he was happy,” said Jackie Patterson, Loku’s case worker at Across Boundaries, an organization that provides mental health support for racialized communities in Toronto.

Graduating from a construction program at George Brown College, Loku was keen to get a stable job and send more money back to his wife and five children in his native South Sudan, Patterson said. He ultimately hoped to bring his family to Canada.

It was the last day she saw him alive, Patterson testified, becoming emotional.

“When I was taking his picture, he had this smile,” she said. “He was looking forward to starting a new life.”

Loku, 45, was shot twice by a Toronto police officer on July 5, 2015, after police were summoned to his apartment complex by an emergency call. The 911 call, made from a neighbouring apartment, said Loku had a hammer and was threatening to kill the caller’s friend.

Ontario’s civilian police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), cleared the officer who shot Loku, concluding no criminal charge would be laid because the officer believed he needed to stop a life-threatening attack.

The inquest into his death, overseen by Dr. John Carlisle, began Monday with 10 parties being granted standing to participate. The inquest is being held not to assign blame, but examine the circumstances of Loku’s death in order to prevent future fatalities.

Read more:

Inquest into Andrew Loku shooting may delve into thorny issues of race and mental illness^[1]

No charges for police officer who shot Andrew Loku^[2]

One death, two versions: finding the facts in the killing of Andrew Loku^[3]

The probe is expected to last for three weeks and hear from 20 witnesses, including the unnamed officer who shot Loku.

Throughout the day, coroner’s court got a detailed outline of Loku’s life, including the source of his mental health challenges.

Loku was born in 1970 in the village of Lire, in the Kajo-Keji region of what is now South Sudan. In 1993 he married Jane Poni and had five children, who today range in age from 12 to 20.

Jonathan Shime, the lawyer for the Loku family, told jurors that Loku’s life was “disrupted by a terrible war.” In 1998, Loku was kidnapped by rebel forces and held for two months, enduring beatings and torture.

When Loku was released, he fled to Uganda, then in 2004, he came to Canada alone as a refugee. He was diagnosed with PTSD and showed signs of depression, loss of identity, and isolation due to losing touch with his family, though he later regained contact with his relatives. For years after, he suffered from flashbacks to the torture.

Court heard that in the final few years of his life that Loku’s mental health had stabilized and he had not been taking any medication.

Loku, however, had previously disclosed to mental health care workers that he was a recovering alcoholic. An autopsy conducted after the shooting concluded Loku’s blood-alcohol level was 247 mg/100 mL of blood, three times the legal limit.

At the time of his death, Loku was living in an apartment building near Eglinton Ave. W. and Caledonia Rd. with units leased by CMHA to provide housing for people with mental health challenges.

According to a summary of expected evidence provided by Michael Blain, the lawyer for the coroner, Loku was picked up by police about an hour before his death, after officers spotted him riding an e-bike on the Don Valley Parkway.

Two officers, concerned for his safety on the busy highway, seized his bike and drove him home, noting there was a faint smell of alcohol on his breath. He was dropped off late on July 4.

Soon after, a 911 call was made from the apartment unit directly above Loku’s, indicating he had come upstairs and was threatening one of the residents. The inquest heard Loku had recently been complaining about the upstairs neighbours making noise, keeping him from sleeping.

When two officers arrived a few minutes later, Loku was located down the hall from the unit where the resident had made the call. When he saw the officers, “he has the hammer in his hand and is gesturing,” Blain told jurors, summarizing the evidence expected to be heard.

Surveillance cameras in the hallway captured Loku as he moved toward the officers, but did not record the moment Loku was shot. Blain said the officers are expected to say that as Loku was getting closer, he was not complying with the demands to drop the hammer.

“Each of them decided they would have to use their firearm,” Blain said, though only one did.

Robin Hicks, a witness to the shooting, told the Star two days after the shooting that she had managed to calm Loku down prior to the officers’ arrival, and that he posed no danger to anyone, including the officers.

Carlisle approved a total of 10 parties to participate in the inquest. They are lawyers for Loku’s family; two different lawyers for the officers involved; Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders; the Toronto Police Association; the Toronto Police Services Board; the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA); the Black Action Defence Committee (BADC); the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Empowerment Council; and Across Boundaries.

Groups advocating on behalf of racialized communities and those with mental health challenges are hoping to raise issues around implicit bias, including the role of race and mental illness in police-involved shootings.

“He did not need to die,” Kingsley Gilliam, spokesperson for BADC, said outside coroner’s court Monday. “We need a shift in paradigm, where we shift crisis intervention away from police.”

In a statement to the jury on behalf of Loku’s family, Shime said Loku’s relatives and friends “suffer every day with his absence.”

“Andrew was a warm, kind and gentle man. Regardless of the struggles he had endured, he always made sure to look after the people around him and make them feel valued,” Shime said.

“He only hoped for a better and more peaceful life for (himself), his children, his family and his country.”

The inquest continues Tuesday.

Wendy Gillis can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.^[4]

References

1. ^{^} Inquest into Andrew Loku shooting may delve into thorny issues of race and mental illness (www.thestar.com)
2. ^{^} No charges for police officer who shot Andrew Loku (www.thestar.com)
3. ^{^} One death, two versions: finding the facts in the killing of Andrew Loku (www.thestar.com)
4. ^{^} This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (www.bing.com)