WARMINGTON: Toronto cop shoots male after believing he was shot in traffic stop on Easter Sunday

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The Toronto Police officer thought he had been shot.

“He saw the muzzle flash go off” and was sure he had been hit.

Suddenly this so-called routine traffic stop of a red, two-door Infiniti sports car at 11 p.m. Easter Sunday at Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. was a life-or-death situation.

The officer returned fire. And so did a second responding officer.

A male  was struck and was fighting for his life overnight. There were also up to four other passengers in the car — who were all arrested.

Sources say after the car was flagged as part of a previous police investigation, four young women exited the car without incident and the young man driving was the last to leave. Sources allege that as he was stepping out of the car, his gun discharged toward the officer, who in turn returned fire.

It’s unclear if the officers were making the arrests at gunpoint.

CPR was instantly performed by officers on the male, who had been struck by a police bullet.

The officer who was in close proximity to the vehicle was also immediately tended to by his peers. Thinking he too had been struck, his shirt was opened, and his body was checked for a bullet wound. One was not found.

His bulletproof vest was seized and taken into evidence by the province’s Special Investigations Unit. It’s unclear if the vest was hit or it was the energy from the bullet that had the officer feeling he had been hit.

Either way, he faced a very difficult situation.

“He was shaken up but fortunate to not have been hit,” said a person on scene. “It looks like the shooter just missed. The officer was lucky there.”

He was certain he had been struck. They did a thorough examination of his body and were confident he was not.

“It was a close call,” said an officer.

The SIU was called in as a result of it being a police-involved shooting. They say the male is in life-threatening condition.

The male is believed to be 17, though the SIU referred to him as a man and has yet to confirm his age, telling the Sun they have yet to formally ID him.

The other four in the car are said to have been asked at gunpoint to exit the vehicle — which they are said to have done without further incident. They are very fortunate to not have been hit by gunfire as well. They are said to still be in custody and charges are pending.

A firearm was retrieved from the car.

CP24 reporter Beatrice Vaisman reports the car had up to ten bullet holes in the doors and windsheild. It is believed most of that damage was as a result of police returning fire from the original shot.

The SIU has yet to comment on the order of the shots or how many there were. This is an ongoing investigation and with it being in the hands of the SIU, it is very difficult to get new information. The Toronto Police have not made further comment.

While he can’t comment on the SIU probe, Toronto Police Association president Clayton Campbell did attend the scene and said this could have turned out far worse.

“We are very lucky we don’t have dead police officers after (Sunday) night’s incident and we are very proud of the efforts of the officers who responded to a very dangerous situation,” said Campbell. “Officers don’t want to use lethal force and only use it if there could be serious injury or death to themselves or the public.”

Sources tell the Toronto Sun that a smell of marijuana emanating from the vehicle is said to have been part of the original investigation. This probe is in the early stages, but it does show how dangerous the streets can be and how quickly people can be wounded or killed as a result of illegal guns.

If anyone thinks police conduct “routine traffic stops,” they are mistaken. Every trip to the driver’s side of a car is precarious now.

Just last October, a police officer was shot in the abdomen in a similar incident and two officers avoided being hit in a shooting incident outside a music studio. It’s very dangerous in Toronto sometimes.

There are so many guns on the street that officers are at great risk. This was a prime example of that reality.

jwarmington@postmedia.com