Five shootings in five days highlight a violent year for Toronto
Posted August 21, 2015 9:39 pm.
Last Updated August 21, 2015 9:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto is suffering a surge in gun crime. The five shootings in five days this week are just the latest in a year’s worth of violence.
Shots fired at Queen’s Quay; Dundas Street East and Sherbourne Street; Jane Street and Maple Leaf Drive; Keele Street and Lawrence Avenue West; and Yonge Street and Dundas Street have left two people dead and five injured since Monday.
In 2015 so far, Toronto has experienced over 100 shootings resulting in death or injury – a 56 per cent increase over this time last year. There have also been more than150 shootings that have not resulted in physical harm — like the incident at Don Mills Road and Sheppard Avenue Wednesday night. In the year to date, there has been an increase of nearly 99 per cent in those non-injury-causing shootings.
By contrast, both 2013 and 2014 saw decreases in the number of shootings, and the number of victims.
No arrests have been made in Toronto’s most recent shootings. But Mayor John Tory said he was satisfied that police were dedicating all the resources they could so that “people are apprehended who are involved in this kind of violent activity.”
Toronto police told CityNews that the city’s violent year is part of a continent-wide increase in gun violence, and local officers are contacting their counterparts in the US to try to find out what’s caused it.
“Almost every major jurisdiction [in North America] is experiencing an uptick in shootings,” said Deputy Chief Peter Sloly. “So there’s something going on, more than just what’s happening on our streets in the city of Toronto.”
By comparison to American cities, though, Toronto is relatively peaceful. Chicago, our sister city with a similar population size, has already had 267 gun murders this year. That’s more than 15 times as many as Toronto.
No arrests have been made in Toronto’s most recent shootings. But Mayor John Tory said he was satisfied that police were dedicating all the resources they could so that “people are apprehended who are involved in this kind of violent activity.”
