Ontario's special investigations unit has cleared a Toronto officer in the death of a woman who was wielding a knife in front of her North York home.
Sylvia Klibingaitis, 52, called 911 on Oct. 7 and told the operator that she had a knife and was going to commit a crime, the SIU said on Thursday.
The unit said that two police officers responded to the home on Wedgewood Drive near Yonge Street and Cummer Avenue at around 9:30 a.m.
One officer approached the house just as Klibingaitis came outside with a large knife in her hand.
Klibingaitis went toward the officer in a threatening manner and refused to drop her knife when he pointed his gun at her and repeatedly told her to put the knife down, the unit said.
The agency said that the in-car video of the incident shows the woman was less than two metres away and holding the knife above her shoulder when the officer fired his gun three times.
Klibingaitis suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was transported to a nearby trauma centre where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
The SIU probes incidents involving police officers in which someone has been seriously injured, dies or alleges sexual assault.
With files from The Canadian Press
