Toronto teen claims he was a victim and not a perpetrator in January gun call
An 18-year-old taken into custody in January after a Toronto school went into lockdown amid screams someone had seen a gun has told CTV News Toronto he was a "victim" and "not the perpetrator."
“They huddled around me, and then I’m attacked,” said Ahmaud Benjamin Cockburn.
In a $2 million civil suit he’s launched against the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Police Services Board and six students, Cockburn claims he was attacked by a group of boys at Marc Garneau Collegiate yelling racial epithets after he tried to break up a lunch-hour fight on Jan. 19.
“My face was obviously very bloody because i was just attacked, my nose was broken and there was blood on my shoe.”
Cockburn says while panic reigned, he himself ran toward the school guidance counsellor’s office.
“I don’t even know the whole school is panicking, everybody’s running away from me. Like it hasn’t even registered yet that people think that I have a gun on me.”
Cockburn says first responders were called, but instead of medical attention, he was peppered with questions from police.
“All you have to do is check the cameras you know? I kept repeating to them — just check they cameras, because [other students are] saying they saw me with a gun. I‘m telling you there was no gun. All you have to do is check the cameras.”
Cockburn’s guardian arrived while the school was in lockdown. Andrew Kizic, a former first aid instructor, says he took one look at the teen’s battered face and asked: “‘Has medical been called at all? Has anybody taken a look at him?’ And the police officer that was there was like, ‘Oh, you want medical?’”
Kizic says the teen was promised medical attention — if he answered officers’ questions first.
“I can’t name another…school education system where you are allowed to get punched in the face, then detained, and not offered medical.”
The 18-year-old was eventually taken into police custody, which he describes as very traumatizing.
”I was sitting there just in the back of a police cruiser in handcuffs, like, tight, my wrists were bruised, they were cut. And I’m telling these officers, I’m telling them — I need to use the washroom.”
Cockburn claims, however, that he was laughed at, and made to wait another hour before he was permitted to use the bathroom.
“I want to know what their protocol was that led them down this path to say, ‘Okay, we have to put him in cuffs, even though we found nothing. And we’re going take him down to the station and let him urinate on himself in the back of a cab,’” said Kizic.
When approached about the incident, Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer issued CTV News Toronto this statement: “As this is before the courts, it would be inappropriate for us to comment.”
Ryan Bird, a spokesperson for the TDSB, meanwhile, wrote: “As this is currently before the courts, we’re not in a position to comment further at this time. However, external counsel retained by the TDSB will be responding to the lawsuit in short order.”
But Cockburn’s guardian wants answers now. “This is ridiculous, I was enraged, I was angry.”
And Andrew Kizic wants someone to be accountable for what happened.
“There was complete neglect for his health and well-being.”
Cockburn says he wasn’t released by police until after 10 p.m. No charges were laid. Neither, however, did he receive an apology, nor any medical attention.
“I was just answering to police questions. There was no help from the school board at all.”
Cockburn says he now suffers from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. But it’s his reputation that has taken the hardest hit.
“They don’t know what really went down that day. They just know the stories that they were told.”
None of the allegations have been tested in court, nor have any statements of defence been filed at this point.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.
Appeal denied for Edmonton soldier accused of trying to kill her 3 children
An Edmonton woman found guilty of trying to kill her three children has been denied an appeal.