Desertdog
Member
Maybe they need to make the laws more draconian due to this shooting. Common sense says, "Please let me be able to defend myself".
Anti-gun activist shot
Scarborough man killed at site of his annual Stop Violence BBQ
Natalie Alcoba
National Post
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=1c9b8374-039c-4f35-acd0-bc11531acbc3
TORONTO - A father was gunned down last night in the same Scarborough apartment building courtyard where he weeks ago staged a ''Stop-the-Violence'' barbecue, residents said.
The shooting of the man -- identified by friends as Delroy, but known as ''Sploogle'' -- happened just before 7 p.m. on the basketball courts of an apartment building at 3181 Eglinton Avenue East, near Markham Road.
Police said there was an altercation, and he was shot more than once by a man.
As many as 20 people, many of them children, were in the area at the time.
The victim, said to be between 35 and 40 years old, was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
For the year, shooting deaths now total 32, a number that already eclipses the 27 killed by gunfire during the whole of 2004. A man was reportedly injured yesterday in another incident after he dove for cover from the spray of gunfire near a daycare centre in the area of Kingston Road and Victoria Park Avenue.
News of the Scarborough shooting left some of the residents of the apartment complex shattered.
''He comes back and he tries to help the youth,'' said one man who identified himself as Delroy's friend. ''It's ironic that something like this happened.''
The man, who did not want to identify himself, said Delroy used to live in the building outside of which the shooting occurred. He immigrated to Canada from Kingston, Jamaica, several years ago and had 10 children, the man said.
The family lived in the nearby Lawrence Avenue and Markham Road area.
Delroy was known for being generous with area children, fixing bikes and breaking up fights.
In the past few years, Delroy has staged a summer barbecue in the building's courtyard, which is shared with two other buildings. Hundreds of people turned up for the event this month.
He recruited sponsors, offered hot dogs and gave away gifts, which had been donated, to children. He even had T-shirts made that said ''Stop the Violence'' on them, the friend said.
The recent violence on Toronto's streets provided further motivation for Delroy, he said.
''Everybody is just fed up about the shootings,'' the man said.
More than a dozen people have been killed over the past month in the city alone, leaving politicians and police scrambling to come up with a plan to stop the bloodshed.
"Guns do not have a place in Toronto," Mayor David Miller told reporters this month as he announced plans to hire 150 new police officers. "I am not going to let our city become one where gun crimes are routine."
The murder rate has been generally falling since 1991, when the city had 89 homicides.
But flare-ups in gun violence in recent years have shone a spotlight on the city's poorer suburbs.
"There's an increase in gang violence in the city, and a lot of the violence that we've seen with guns in the last couple of months has been gang-on-gang," Dave Wilson, head of the Toronto Police Association, told Reuters recently.
Police Chief Bill Blair has said gang rivalries have been intensified by increased access to guns that have either been smuggled from the United States or stolen from gun owners in Canada.
According to Toronto police statistics, about 1,200 guns have been seized so far in 2005, consistent with previous years.
Anyone with information can contact Toronto police through Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.222tips.com
Anti-gun activist shot
Scarborough man killed at site of his annual Stop Violence BBQ
Natalie Alcoba
National Post
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=1c9b8374-039c-4f35-acd0-bc11531acbc3
TORONTO - A father was gunned down last night in the same Scarborough apartment building courtyard where he weeks ago staged a ''Stop-the-Violence'' barbecue, residents said.
The shooting of the man -- identified by friends as Delroy, but known as ''Sploogle'' -- happened just before 7 p.m. on the basketball courts of an apartment building at 3181 Eglinton Avenue East, near Markham Road.
Police said there was an altercation, and he was shot more than once by a man.
As many as 20 people, many of them children, were in the area at the time.
The victim, said to be between 35 and 40 years old, was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
For the year, shooting deaths now total 32, a number that already eclipses the 27 killed by gunfire during the whole of 2004. A man was reportedly injured yesterday in another incident after he dove for cover from the spray of gunfire near a daycare centre in the area of Kingston Road and Victoria Park Avenue.
News of the Scarborough shooting left some of the residents of the apartment complex shattered.
''He comes back and he tries to help the youth,'' said one man who identified himself as Delroy's friend. ''It's ironic that something like this happened.''
The man, who did not want to identify himself, said Delroy used to live in the building outside of which the shooting occurred. He immigrated to Canada from Kingston, Jamaica, several years ago and had 10 children, the man said.
The family lived in the nearby Lawrence Avenue and Markham Road area.
Delroy was known for being generous with area children, fixing bikes and breaking up fights.
In the past few years, Delroy has staged a summer barbecue in the building's courtyard, which is shared with two other buildings. Hundreds of people turned up for the event this month.
He recruited sponsors, offered hot dogs and gave away gifts, which had been donated, to children. He even had T-shirts made that said ''Stop the Violence'' on them, the friend said.
The recent violence on Toronto's streets provided further motivation for Delroy, he said.
''Everybody is just fed up about the shootings,'' the man said.
More than a dozen people have been killed over the past month in the city alone, leaving politicians and police scrambling to come up with a plan to stop the bloodshed.
"Guns do not have a place in Toronto," Mayor David Miller told reporters this month as he announced plans to hire 150 new police officers. "I am not going to let our city become one where gun crimes are routine."
The murder rate has been generally falling since 1991, when the city had 89 homicides.
But flare-ups in gun violence in recent years have shone a spotlight on the city's poorer suburbs.
"There's an increase in gang violence in the city, and a lot of the violence that we've seen with guns in the last couple of months has been gang-on-gang," Dave Wilson, head of the Toronto Police Association, told Reuters recently.
Police Chief Bill Blair has said gang rivalries have been intensified by increased access to guns that have either been smuggled from the United States or stolen from gun owners in Canada.
According to Toronto police statistics, about 1,200 guns have been seized so far in 2005, consistent with previous years.
Anyone with information can contact Toronto police through Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.222tips.com
