Zakiyeh Rezaee says her family was just in the middle of dinner last Saturday when there was a knock on the front door of their Etobicoke home. Moments later, she says, a team of police officers was tackling her 20-year-old son, who has autism, to the ground. There had been a report of a man wielding a firearm – presumably her son and his toy gun.

“When I opened the door, I saw around the door, police officers,” she told CTV News Toronto. “They came inside and they said ‘where is he?’”

Rezaee’s son Reza Hassani was in his bedroom, eating his dinner.

Police proceeded in that direction.

By the time Razaee reached the area, she found a number of officers holding him to the ground.

“All of the police officers, I don’t know, four or five, on top of my son. They put him down,” Rezaee said. “I keep saying ‘please leave him alone, he has special needs’. Nobody cared about that.”

Hassani’s social worker was also in the home during the incident and described it as “horrible.”

“His head was turned to the side. He had food, a kebob, in his mouth, eyes shocked. I screamed. His mother screamed,” Roya Amiri said.

Rezaee said that when officers finally got off her son and allowed him to lie on his bed, no one offered an apology.

“If something had happened to my child. I’m scared right now. Maybe something will happen in the future,” she said. “When I saw a Toronto police officer before, I felt safe, but now, I feel scared. I’m scared of the police.”

Rezaee said she had bought her son a red toy gun earlier that evening and they had opened it before getting in the car.

During the drive home, someone called police to report a man in the passenger seat pointing a rifle at another vehicle. Rezaee said that her son often dances to music in the car and may have been holding the toy when he did so.

The incident has caused Hassani a lot of anxiety. Rezaee said that he now shakes every time there is a knock on the door and becomes scared when he sees a police cruiser.

His social worker is worried about the long-term impact of the interaction with police.

“Usually he is very quiet, loves to listen to his music, sometimes dance,” Amiri said. “Last night, he didn’t stop asking questions over and over. He is anxious, walk back and forth. He saw a police car yesterday and he wet himself.”

The family said they want an apology from police and urged them to offer more training on dealing with people with special needs.

“It’s not about my son,” Rezaee said. “All the special needs child living with autism. Someone should help them.”

Toronto police confirmed that no charges were laid in connection with this incident. They also said that if the family wishes to file a complaint, they may do so through the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.

With files from CTV News Toronto's Tracy Tong