This gunman in Regent Park raised his weapon and tried to shoot, but the gun did not go off, police said. He quickly left the scene in the May 23 incident.

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as of May 28, had seen 162 shootings in Toronto, according to the latest police data.

By Vjosa IsaiStaff Reporter

Sun., June 3, 2018

The tall, lanky man, wearing white from head to toe — save for indigo sneakers — is caught on surveillance cameras at River St. in Regent Park.
Appearing from the right side of the screen, he takes 11 steps. He marches up to a man who’s facing the opposite direction with a cigarette in one hand, a walking cane in the other. It’s after midnight on May 23.

The man in white raises a gun to the back of the other man’s head. He lowers it just as quickly. Police say he appeared to pull the trigger, but the gun did not fire. Eight minutes later on the same street, the gunman can be seen with another armed man. Together, they chase down a 42-year-old man. He’s shot, but he survives.
It’s another eruption of gunfire in a year that, as of May 28, had seen 162 shootings in Toronto, according to the latest police data.

This gunman in Regent Park raised his weapon and tried to shoot, but the gun did not go off, police said. He quickly left the scene in the May 23 incident. (Toronto Police Service)

If the pace is maintained, it will be the fourth straight year in which Toronto has seen the number of shooting victims increase. In 2015 there were 429 victims; there were 581 in 2016, 594 in 2017 and, so far, there have been 215 this year. The numbers surpass even 2005, Toronto’s notorious “year of the gun,” when 52 people were killed by guns and there were 359 shooting victims.

“A rise in shootings in one week doesn’t make a trend line, but there is a tendency for one set of shootings to lead to another set of shootings. to lead to another set of shootings. Basically, revenge shootings, or shootings that have to do with territory,” said Irvin Waller, a professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa.
There is a general uptick in shootings and homicides associated with street gangs in urban areas, he said.
Last month, there were six shooting homicides in Toronto. The youngest victim was 17. They were all male. No arrests have been made.
Three of the victims — Venojan Suthesan, 21; Matthew Staikos, 37; Israel Edwards, 18 — were gunned down just last week.

On Friday, Mayor John Tory countered criticisms about police staffing numbers, saying more surveillance cameras could be installed in crime hot spots to help with investigative efforts.

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