TORONTO - In response to the fatal shooting of 18 year-old Sammy Yatim on a streetcar this past weekend, Toronto Police Services admitted today that the ninth round fired was a tad unnecessary.

“We made an honest mistake,” said Police Chief Bill Blair. “The first three bullets were critical to our strategy of disarming the three-inch knife-holder before he could exit the empty streetcar, and the next five were required to ensure we could safely enter and safely taser the likely dead man. But, admittedly we could have skipped the ninth bullet.”

“When you are raining down gunfire on a confused and scared adolescent, sometimes these things happen,” Blair added.

“Nobody’s perfect,” said one of the officers involved in the shooting, who wished to remain anonymous. “Though we are asking the public to keep in mind that we were dealing with a non-caucasian, male teenager who had gone so far as to yell at a streetcar driver.”

The officers involved have been suspended with pay, in the hopes that the days spent in front of their new flat screens will give them time to think about what they have done.