A tearful Umar Zamir apologized for the death of Toronto police officer Jeff Northrup

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In dramatic testimony, a tearful Umar Zamir apologized for the death of Toronto police. Const. Jeff Northrup.

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But the father-of-three said he didn't know he had hit anyone – just after midnight on July 2, 2021, when he deliberately ran over a plainclothes officer in an underground garage under Nathan Phillips Square.

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Zamir, 34, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

“Every time I think about the family, my heart bleeds. I know the relationship between father and son,” Zamir said while testifying in his defense on Thursday morning. “I am very sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your father. I want it back. I wish it wasn't all there.”

Northrup, 55, was working in plainclothes as part of the Major Crimes Unit investigating the stabbing when he was killed. Three of his colleagues said Zamir hit the officer head-on as he fled from them in his BMW. Two accident reconstructionists told the jury that Northrup was struck by the car when it swerved and then crashed.

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Zamir said he, his pregnant wife and baby never decided to leave their Woodbridge home to go downtown to celebrate Canada Day, and he wishes they hadn't settled underground. He told the jury he did not know Northrup and his partner, Sgt. Lisa Forbes said police were present when they “rushed” up to her BMW, demanding that she stop and get out, banging on her car's windows.

“I was shocked,” he recalled. “I thought they were here to rob us.”

When an unidentified van blocked his way out of the parking lot, Zamir said he feared they were being attacked by a gang. With his pregnant wife hyperventilating and his two-year-old son crying “Baba, Baba” by his side, he was “so scared” and wanted to run away.

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Zamir said none of them identified themselves as policemen and, contrary to Forbes' testimony, he was not holding a police badge.

He quickly turned around, the hitting stopped and he was speeding forward toward the exit, thinking he was speeding past the impact, he said. He asked his wife to call the police and help him.

Seconds later they were hit from behind, Zamir was held at gunpoint and told he hit someone. One of the two men pointed to the blood on the BMW and told him: “Look here, that's my partner's brain.”

“My legs are shaking. I could not feel the ground under my feet. I couldn't believe what they were telling me; I did not believe that someone died under my car,” said Zamir, holding back tears.

“I was scared to this day,” he said. “I know this is a harsh reality I have to live with; I can't stop thinking about it.”

The king began his investigation.

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