INTENT WAS 'SHOOT TO KILL' ON DAWSON, OFFICER TELLS TRIAL

A Toronto undercover officer intended to kill Hugh Dawson when he shot the
drug suspect at close range during a violent struggle inside his car, a
trial has been told.

Constable Rajeev Sukumaran also didn't rule out the possibility yesterday
that he may have shot the Scarborough man more than once as Dawson struggled
to take Constable Richard Shank's weapon from him.

Sukumaran ended nearly two days of testimony at Shank's manslaughter trial
by telling the court he feels his colleague saved his life.

It was Sukumaran who shot Dawson first, hitting him in the "centre mass" of
his body on March 30 of last year, court has been told.

Sukumaran testified that after he shot Dawson, 31, that Easter Sunday, the
man turned on him and tried to get his gun. He then heard a series of shots
and the drug suspect utter his final words: "Okay. I give up now. I'm dead."

Dawson was hit by nine bullets in all.

On Tuesday, Sukumaran told Crown Attorney Sandy Tse he fired his .40-calibre
Glock only once at Dawson.

But under cross-examination yesterday by Shank's lawyer, Austin Cooper, the
drug squad officer said he couldn't rule out the possibility he may have
fired a second time.

Sukumaran also told Cooper he shot Dawson to "stop the threat" to himself
and Shank. But when pressed by Cooper about what he meant, Sukumaran said
his intention was to "shoot to kill" Dawson.

OFFICER COMMENDED

Sukumaran has testified that Dawson was heading north on Kennedy Rd.,
approaching a red light at Danforth Rd., when Shank gave the order to take
the car down.

The crown has alleged that Shank, in his role as the road boss that night,
was criminally negligent in the handling of the arrest.

The jury was told Sukumaran received a commendation from the force after an
1995 arrest in which the officer recovered a stolen car. In that incident,
Sukumaran jumped into the driver's-side window of the moving vehicle and
pulled the hand brake, stopping the car.

During the attempt to arrest Dawson, court was told, Sukumaran smashed the
driver's window and dove into the suspect's car to try to get control of the
vehicle.

Under cross-examination yesterday, Sukumaran admitted that he had been
charged internally with insubordination for not giving a statement about the
fatal shooting to the provincial special investigations unit, the civilian
body that probed the case.

Checked-by: Don Beck