A noticeably different version of events than what police and politicians described for the first time during the five-week murder trial of Omar Zamir in Toronto culminated in a rare move by the presiding judge.

After the jury acquitted Zamir of the first-degree murder charge related to the death of Toronto Police officer Jeffrey Northrup, Judge Anne Molloy offered the 34-year-old a heartfelt apology for what he had been through.

Molloy told him in the courtroom on Sunday, "Zamir, you are free to go, sir." "You have my deepest apology for what you have been through."

Northrup died on July 2, 2021, after being struck by Zamir’s BMW in a public parking lot beneath Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto. The court heard that the officer had rushed the vehicle alongside his partner, Lisa Forbes, both dressed in plain clothes, while investigating a stabbing that had just occurred nearby.

Zamir, with his pregnant wife and young son at the time, always maintained that he was unaware that the people approaching his BMW were police officers.

He attempted to flee the confrontation, first reversing his BMW and hitting Northrup before driving forward and escaping the scene, according to the evidence presented to the court.

During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Zamir knew Northrup was a police officer and drove directly at the man. Northrup weighed around 300 pounds and stood 6'3 inches tall; Crown attorney Karen Simon told the court, "He was huge and visible."

On the other hand, the defense presented a completely different account of events — that Zamir had gone downtown that day for a regular family outing, accompanied by his pregnant wife and young child. They argued that he feared for his life when he saw three individuals running toward him and acted out of fear.

Zamir's lawyers pointed out that he had no criminal record, and even if he knew these individuals were police officers, he would have had no reason to flee.

The defense also claimed that the officers who testified during the trial repeatedly lied under oath. Lawyer Nader Hassan told the court that three officers who witnessed the incident, including Forbes, lied on the witness stand, saying Northrup was standing in the middle of the lane in front of Zamir’s vehicle, was visible, and had his hands extended when he was struck.

Molloy echoed this claim in her charge to the jury on Thursday, stating that the officer’s testimony did not match the physical evidence and advised the 12-member panel to consider the potential for collusion.

Zamir burst into loud sobs when the jury rendered its verdict, and his wife, Aida Sheikh, cried on the shoulders of family members. Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse shortly afterward, Zamir apologized for the incident.

The Brampton accountant and father of three said, "I’m sorry for what happened, but I never intended for any of this to happen this way."

The acquittal on Sunday left Northrup's family and his fellow police officers feeling disappointed.

Northrup's widow spoke in court on Sunday afternoon, telling reporters she felt "devastated" by the outcome.

Northrup said, "From day one, all I wanted was accountability." "We miss Jeff every day. However, we carry him in our hearts, and we will never forget him, a hero in life, not death."

About an hour after the verdict, TPS Chief Myron Demkiw described Northrup's loss as "devastating" in a statement in which he said the service had hoped the jury would reach a "different outcome."

When asked whether the service would address the perjury allegations against its officers, Demkiw noted that Sunday was not the right time and told reporters, "We will talk later."

When reporters asked her on Monday at an unrelated press conference whether the case could prompt any policy changes within the Toronto Police Service, city Mayor Olivia Chow said any operational or human resources issues within TPS fell under the president's jurisdiction, while for political matters, she referred to the council.

Chow said, "I trust this process." "It ultimately really is up to the president to manage police services, and it is not my place to comment on it."

The details revealed during the trial built a new understanding of Northrup's death and how the events of July 2 unfolded.

On the day Northrup was killed, then-Toronto Police Chief James Ramer described the incident as a "deliberate" murder. Ramer told reporters at a press conference that the officer died after being struck by a vehicle "deliberately" near city hall during the night.

Weeks later, politicians and public figures distanced themselves from the decision to release Zamir on bail, with Premier Doug Ford calling the judge's decision "beyond comprehension."

The premier wrote on social media, "Our justice system needs to unite its efforts and start placing victims and their families before criminals."

The Premier's office did not respond to a request for comment on the Sunday acquittal.

The then-city mayor, John Tory, stated that it was "almost impossible to imagine a circumstance where a suspect in a first-degree murder case is released on bail."

The former city mayor wrote, "The fact that we do not know the reasons behind the judge's extraordinary decision due to a publication ban is extremely troubling, it is wrong, and represents another argument supporting my long-standing call for bail reform," "We all need to know the reasons behind this questionable decision."

Criminal defense lawyer Daniel Brown, who was not connected to Zamir's case, stated that this case serves as a reminder of "how important and fragile the presumption of innocence is" in Canada.

Brown said, “Our police chief and political leaders rushed to abandon this protection to push their own political agendas.”

Brown told CTV News that the city should be able to expect that the police will uphold the law and that officers will not handle any case with a predetermined agenda. He described Chief Demkiw's comments about hoping for a different outcome as "terrifying and equally disturbing."

The lawyer said, “The pursuit of charging Mr. Zamir with murder and the failure of senior police officials to accept the jury's verdict on Sunday as correct indicates a tunnel vision from prosecutors and police that underlies other wrongful convictions.”

After the verdict on Sunday, Hassan expressed gratitude to his supporters.

Hassan wrote, "When we first took on this case, there was so much hatred directed at my client, “but they did not know the truth.” "Now Canadians know."

Speaking outside the courthouse on Sunday, Zamir concluded his statements by expressing gratitude to his lawyers, whom he referred to as "angels," but also to Canadians.

He said, "I cannot thank Canada as a whole enough."

"I thought that Aida and I made a wrong decision when we came to Canada, but now I see that Canada did not allow injustice to occur."