A Toronto police officer has pleaded guilty to assault more than two years after a man was shot in a Toronto park.Const. Andrew Davis was originally charged with one count of aggravated assault and one count of discharging a firearm with intent to maim, wound, disfigure or endanger life following a Special Investigations Unit probe into the shooting of a 31-year-old man in February 2023.According to an agreed statement of facts, that morning in February, an individual alerted police to a man near Trethewey and Black Creek drives with a knife and an off-leash dog, expressing fear he may harm the dog. As it came through to officers over dispatch, additional details suggested the man possibly had a knife in his coat and was interacting with another individual.Police bodycam footage released in court on Wednesday shows officers confronting a man in a park, asking him to drop a knife. The man backs away, telling police, “I didn’t do anything.”Const. Sara Richards fires a taser at the man with no effect.The man then begins to harm himself with the knife, at which point Richards can be heard yelling, “Oh my god, shoot him!”Const. Davis then fires two shots at the man, seriously injuring him.Devon Fowlin was later identified as the man who was shot. He was taken to the hospital and treated for serious injuries. Fowlin was unhoused, living out of his vehicle and had a previous history of mental health issues – all of which police officers were unaware of at the time of the incident.“I believe that with this outcome there was justice for everyone in this situation,” said Fowlin, who spoke briefly to reporters on Wednesday, describing the physical and emotional challenges he continues to face after being shot in the arm and chest.“We need more appropriate responses to situations like mine, especially to deal with mental health crises.”Davis is scheduled to be sentenced on October 2. Following that, he is set to go before the police tribunal. That hearing was stayed pending the outcome of this case.“For what our system provides, yes, this is a measure of justice, but it’s not good enough,” said activist Desmond Cole, who is also a friend of Fowlin. “We should never have been in this situation. A homeless person living in a park by themselves, minding their own business, should never have been attacked in this way.“We know that this was an officer, PC Andrew Davis, who was, as he said today, 53 weeks on into the job. He was directed by a senior officer to shoot an individual. I don’t know if that’s something you turn down as a young officer. I’ve got to ask serious questions of the Toronto police here,” said David Shellnut, who is representing Fowlin in a lawsuit against Toronto police.