Family won’t stop fighting for man shot by Peel police

“The trauma is always there,” White said. “When I go back to that night when they took my baby, it breaks me. It's the worst pain.”

The officer fired several shots into the car's windshield, hitting Franzica in the head. He died two days later in the hospital.

Peel police deny there was any negligence on their part, that Frantic was assaulted or that, given the circumstances, excessive force was used. “These defendants plead self-defense, necessity and legal authority,” the defense said in a statement.

White's family sued the police and filed a complaint with the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA), which was dismissed.

“I continue to fight because what they did to my son was unjust. My son violated his bail and they killed him for it. They could have approached him while he was walking,” White said of her continued fight despite the results of the LECA and SIU investigations.

Francique's father, Derek Francique, said he wants the officers involved fired and criminally charged in his son's death.

“Change is needed,” he said of the need for police oversight reform and holding officers accountable for their use of force. “When my son died, so did I. I'm upset that nothing happens to these police officers.”

Reached for comment on the ongoing civil lawsuit, Peel police spokesman Matt Carty told the Star that “because this matter is before the courts, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

Franczyk was one of three men shot and killed by Peel officers in separate high-profile incidents in 2020. The SIU also cleared the officers of criminal wrongdoing in connection with the death D'Andre Campbell, 26 And Ejaz Choudhury, 62 years old. Choudry's family is also suing Peel police.

Franzica's death in early 2020 kicked off a year of reckoning on race and policing that came just months before the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, which sparked protests across Canada and the United States.

Lawyers representing several parties sued, including the Peel Regional Police Service (PRPS), the Peel Police Services Board, Chief Nishan Duraiappa and the Peel Regional Paramedic Service, filed a statement of defence, signaling their intention to fight the civil claim, according to documents filed in Toronto Superior Court in 2023.

The lawsuit notes that the defendants “deny any wrongdoing by members of the PRPS” and asks that “this lawsuit against these defendants be dismissed with costs.”

Civil court documents say police received confidential information that Franzica, who was under strict house arrest on drug and firearms charges, was actively involved in the drug trade and may have been in possession of a firearm.

While monitoring Franz over several days, police did not observe him making any drug transactions, but say he was seen leaving his home on multiple occasions, in violation of his bail conditions, the defense statement said.

“As police attempted to block Franzi's vehicle with their vehicles, nearby police officers approached Franzi's vehicle, claiming to be police officers and wearing clearly marked police vests, demanding that Franzi's stop and exit the vehicle,” the statement said.

It says Francis accelerated his vehicle in reverse and then began to turn it toward a nearby curb and sidewalk to get away from police.

“He turned his vehicle toward two officers standing on the sidewalk and accelerated toward them,” the statement said.

One of the two officers was able to jump out of the way of Franca's vehicle, while the second officer, who pulled out a gun, “warned Franca to stop and when he did not, fired his gun four times,” the statement said.

Franzika drove further down the driveway of the townhouse before stopping after striking the townhouse.

Police found a bag attached to Franzica's waistband that contained a loaded firearm.

“Francique was entirely responsible for his misfortune,” the statement said. “He knew he was caught by police while he was in possession of a firearm and attempted to elude police with no regard for his safety or the safety of others.”

The family's lawsuit alleges the officers acted maliciously and used excessive and unlawful force. The statement said Franzica's death was the result of “extremely dangerous and racially charged policing tactics” underpinned by a systemic lack of training and accountability within the police service.

The family's lawyer, David Shellnutt, said police opted for a high-risk arrest that should not have happened due to a routine breach of bail conditions. Shellnutt argues the arrest was improperly made, saying Francis was allowed to walk from the house to a nearby parking lot and police did not try to detain him until he was in the car and ready to drive.

“They came very randomly,” Shellnutt said. “As a result, not only were the officers put at risk, but Mr. Francis was killed for a simple breach of bail conditions.”

The family had Indially filed a lawsuit seeking more than $101 million in damages. against a number of parties. Shellnutt, who took over the case after the suit had already been filed by another lawyer, said the claim ($101 million) was unrealistic based on the legal precedent set by previous cases. He said that while the lawsuit, if successful, could set some high damages targets, “I don't think $100 million is within the realm of possibility.”

Shellnutt dropped claims against several parties named in the original suit, including the SIU, the Solicitor General of Ontario and the Attorney General, because “there were no valid claims against those parties.” Now he's only making claims against Peel police and paramedics.

“You have a family that is still devastated and is owed significant compensation, and we are committed to getting it for them,” Shellnutt said.

Shellnutt said he interviewed the officer who killed Frantica, as well as the key officer in charge of the 2020 operation, during the discovery process in September, when lawyers for the various parties involved in the lawsuit can ask questions to gather details before a possible trial.

“We're looking forward to mediation,” Shellnutt said of the next stage of the proceedings. “If this doesn’t help, we will go to court.”

“Going into this investigation, I know it's going to rip my heart out because it feels like it was just yesterday that I lost a child,” White said.

Remembering that night, she said that walked from her home to the part of the townhouse complex where her son was shot after receiving a call that the area was swarming with police. She said she called her son's phone, but it went unanswered, and she noticed that the Acura that crashed into the garage of the home at the scene looked similar to the car her son was driving.

White said she has some hope that authorities will “ensure that (the investigation's) recommendations are actually implemented to save other lives, especially Black lives.”

White also filed a complaint with LECA, formerly OIPRD, an independent civilian watchdog that handles public complaints about police conduct, alleging negligence, excessive and unlawful use of authority and unnecessary force by the officers involved.

The LECA report obtained by the Star shows that in March 2023, the agency responded to White's complaint by stating that “there is insufficient evidence to establish on reasonable grounds that misconduct as defined by the Police Services Act occurred in this complaint. I have therefore concluded that the complaint against these officers is without merit.”

The LECA report mentions Const. Milan Ivkovic as the officer who shot France. During the LECA investigation, Det. Jason Sweeting, the officer in charge of the Franc investigation, noted that “the original plan did not involve a high-risk apprehension. The goal was to arrest Mr. Franc in his vehicle before entering and driving the vehicle.”

Sweeting “believed the plan changed and turned into what police are calling a high-risk arrest when Mr. Franczyk intentionally drove his vehicle into the officers,” the LECA report states.

In 2021, the SIU found no reasonable basis to believe that the then-unidentified “objective officer” who killed Frantika committed a criminal offense. The officer fired multiple shots into the Acura, hitting Franziska in the head, “to prevent what he believed was an imminent threat to his life” as Franziska drove toward officers, the SIU found in its reports. final report.

White told the Star that her son was the victim of a shooting in 2017 that left him hospitalized. She said Francis was walking near the Square One shopping center when he was shot several times by an unknown gunman. According to her, one of the bullets hit him in the left arm, another grazed his neck, and the third grazed his leg. It is unclear whether the shooting was targeted.

The injuries sustained from the shooting resulted in severe nerve damage to his left arm. White said he was scheduled for surgery to repair his arm in January 2020, “but he never made it to surgery.”

As the investigation and civil lawsuit continues, White clings to fond memories of the times she spent with her son, whom she called a jack of all trades. Francis had a knack for car repairs that blossomed while working in auto repair shops in high school, his mother said.

“He was obsessed with restoring cars,” White said.

When he turned 20, White said Franzica turned her driveway and garage into a makeshift workshop and began buying damaged cars at auctions and fixing them up. She shared a video of Francis dancing while standing in the garage of their home, littered with car parts, with a car fender in his hand.

“I have a neighbor who bought a car from Jamal,” she said. “Other people also bought cars from Jamal.”

Shortly before her death, White purchased a damaged Lexus for herself, which was restored by her son.

“He was my world,” she said. “I will be his voice until I leave this earth.”