Not coincidently gang-banger shootings spiked when the Toronto police were forced to abandon their version of “stop and frisk”, called “carding” in Canada. Strict Canadian gun laws are not keeping guns out of the hands of the drug gangs in the major Canadian cities.
Two dead, three wounded in Toronto shooting
Two men are dead and three others suffered injuries in a Chinatown shooting at Spadina Ave. and Nassau St. around 3:15 a.m.
“Some sort of altercation occurred that prompted the shooting but we’re still early in the investigation,” said Toronto Police Det. Mike Carbone, who wouldn’t rule out the killings were the result of gang-related violence.
“It’s difficult to say at this point but that’s something we will explore,” he said.
In the 37 shooting incidents in Toronto in January, eight people were killed. Four died in shootings in January 2014.
In Sunday’s multiple shooting, one man was pronounced dead at the scene, while another died in hospital around 8:45 a.m. Their identities have not been released by police.
The stretch of Spadina from Dundas St. to College St. was closed most of the day for the investigation as police officers canvassed the area.
Officers did not release any information about suspects.
Mitchell Kingsley, who lives near the spot where the shooting took place, recalled hearing a series of shots.
“I was lying in bed and heard six to eight gunshots and soon I heard a lot of sirens,” Kingsley said.
“It’s crazy. I don’t know if an altercation went wrong, but I don’t think I have to worry. I’m not the type of person to provoke someone.”
Nick Counter, who also lives near the crime scene, said at first, he thought the shots were fireworks.
“Afterward I heard people laughing,” he added. “It was a busy night and there are always people partying around here.”
Meanwhile, police are seeking assistance from the public after shots were fired at a car in the Bloor St.-Islington Ave. area shortly after 10:30 p.m. Saturday evening. There were no injuries.
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Toronto Police have their hands tied when it comes to solving incidents like Sunday’s double murder in Chinatown, says the head of the Toronto Police Association.
“Our members aren’t out there engaging with the public like they used to because of broad changes to street checks,” complained Mike McCormack, president of the police union. “Because of this, we don’t have the ability to investigate like we used to.”
McCormack said street checks, or carding, can help police with gang-related violence that has become more brazen.
The province has moved ahead with plans to end random street checks.
“We have to be able to be more pro active when it comes to incidents that aren’t random,” McCormack insisted, adding Sunday’s fatal shootings are part of a trend.
He said many revellers from the often troublesome Entertainment District area head for Chinatown when the bars close and if police could engage those people, valuable information could be gathered.
Groups such as the Concerned Citizens Against Carding have charged that carding is an invasion of a person’s constitutional rights because the practice allows police to cast too wide of a net when looking for suspects and unfairly targets young men of colour.
There are also objections about how information collected from carding incidents is stored by police.
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