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Should we fear random shootings?; More guns latest disturbing trend T.O. still world's safest city Chief

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Yesterday, 5 45 p.m. A gunman fires on a crowd of rush-hour commuters outside Yorkdale subway station. Two women are wounded.

April 24, 3 40 a.m. Livette Miller, a mother of four whose husband died of cancer a year ago, is fatally shot in a North York nightclub. Six others are wounded.

April 10, 4 30 p.m. A gunman opens fire on Yonge St. near Dundas St. Three people are injured. Two men are charged.

Jan. 26. 8 10 p.m. Two women are shot a block apart near St. Lawrence Market - one a volunteer with a college Safe Walk program, the other walking with her husband to their car after dining out. No arrests.

Random shootings. Innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire.

"We are seeing more random acts of violence and we need to respond to that," Toronto police Chief Bill Blair said in a recent interview. Yet the chief maintains these shootings are isolated incidents and residents should not fear for their safety. "I am convinced we have the safest city in the world," Blair said.

But when a gunman opens fire in one of the country's best-known intersections on a Sunday afternoon, the public will naturally question the safety of the city, he admitted. Blair acknowledged several innocent bystanders have been injured in recent months, but cautioned this is not a trend. "I'm concerned about the public perception of safety," he said. "How do you fight that perception that people can't walk up Yonge St.?"

Blair said more uniformed officers were immediately assigned to patrol that area after the April 10 shooting. And although two arrests were made within days in that case, Blair said that news "isn't terribly reassuring" to the community.

In 2004, Toronto police responded to 245 confirmed shootings, most stemming from disputes, home invasions, drive-bys and nightclub incidents. Of those shootings, 28 were fatal and another 153 people survived their injuries. In the other incidents, bullets were fired but no one was struck.

The reality, the chief said, is this "If you are not involved in gangs, drug activity, prostitution or an abusive relationship, the likelihood of being a ... victim is very low."

Det. Sgt. Gary Keys, in charge of the force's gun and gang task force, said he understands the public's concern, but shootings are not on the rise nor is there a notable increase in the number of "innocent bystanders" falling victim to gunfire. "Very rarely do we see an innocent bystander shot," Keys said before yesterday's incident. "There is (usually) some connection between the shooter and the victim. Usually it is around some type of criminal activity, like gang activity or drug involvement." Other times, he said, shootings are the result of the "gangster ... bravado," but even then there's often a link or conflict between the shooter and victim.

Keys said the January shooting of two women near St. Lawrence Market appears to be truly random. That scenario is rare for Toronto, he said. "Usually there's some kind of connection," Keys said. But not always. One victim of random violence was Brenton "Junior" Charlton, 31, who was killed March 4, 2004 while driving home from work with his friend Leonard Bell, 45. Bell survived his injuries. One man with alleged gang ties is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. Blair has described Charlton and Bell as "totally innocent men."

So, it seems, was Derek Wah Yan, fatally shot in his home Nov. 1, 2003 while putting his young son to bed. A bullet tore through Yan's Sadlee Cove Cres. home in Scarborough and struck the 40-year-old father of two in the chest. "Mr. Yan was a good man with a great family. This was completely random," said Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux, who has been with the homicide squad for nine years and has investigated more than 50 cases. Yan was a devoted father who worked as a supervisor in a tool shop. Although the investigation remains active, no arrests have been made. "This was probably a shooting from a passing vehicle," Giroux said."

So far this year, Toronto police have seized 693 guns. Last year, 1,977 guns were seized, slightly less than the 2,236 in 2003. "There is an increase in the number of people we are arresting who have firearms," Keys said. "Twenty years ago it would be rare to arrest someone with a firearm. Now ... we're getting guns in on a daily basis."

But an increase in street-level enforcement has made buying a gun on the street more difficult and possessing one riskier. "For the most part, you have to be connected somehow to get an illegal firearm," Keys said. Street guns, he said, range in price from about $700 to $2,000 depending on size, power and quality. About 50 to 60 per cent of guns on the street have been smuggled from the United States, Keys estimated. The rest are stolen from lawful gun owners.

According to a study of gun-related arrests over a six-month period, 69 per cent of people carrying guns illegally are men between the ages of 18 and 29. Keys noted strong links to drug charges and gang-related activity. Occasionally, Toronto police will hold a gun amnesty in an effort to get guns off the street. If someone wants to dispose of a gun, Keys said arrangements can be made by calling police.

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PUBLICATION: Toronto Star
DATE: 2003.01.09
SECTION: LETTER
PAGE: A21
ILLUSTRATION: VINCE TALOTTA/TORONTO STAR

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Setting things straight: Fantino fires back

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Fantino is off-target - Editorial, Jan. 7.

Once again, the Star has published erroneous data in the above-noted editorial. Errors such as these misinform the public, which to my mind, is totally contrary to the mandate of a responsible newspaper.

In the first place, I fully support Ontario's public safety and security minister, Robert Runciman, in calling for the suspension of the federal gun registry. The Star has also selectively reported my reasons for the position I have taken on the federal gun registry, which again tends to misinform the public.

It may be difficult for the Star to understand why a non-border-city police chief would be concerned about the state of our porous borders. To make it perfectly clear, let me explain that I am concerned about border security because of the smuggling of firearms (and other contraband) into Canada; firearms that end up in the hands of local criminals who are using them in our city where, in 2002, we had 28 gun-related killings. The editorial also ignored the existence of 12.5 miles of U.S.-Canada border on Lake Ontario that has become a significant public safety and security responsibility. In addition, we are increasingly responding to calls for security assistance from officials at the island airport.

Although the Star credits the federal government for having committed $7 billion to fight terrorism, the stark reality for me is that the Toronto Police Service has received virtually nothing from the federal government to assist our men and women as first responders to any threat of terrorism in Canada's largest city.

Finally, the Star has ignored the repeated efforts I have made to members of the federal government to lobby for stiffer sentences for firearms-related crime. Once again, this editorial reflects the Star's usual we-know-best attitude, while trying to convince its readers that it knows everything.