Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Gun rampage leaves Toronto shaken
TORONTO — A man clad in black fired a handgun into restaurants and cafes in a lively Toronto neighborhood, killing a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman and wounding 13 others in an attack that has shaken the confidence of many in the normally safe city.
The mass shooting late Sunday in Toronto’s Greektown district came just three months after a van struck and killed 10 people in an apparent attack directed against women.
Police identified the suspect Monday night as Faisal Hussain, 29. He died after an exchange of gunfire with police.
A statement from Hussain’s family said their son had severe mental illness and struggled with psychosis and depression.
“While we did our best to seek help for him throughout his life of struggle and pain, we could never imagine that this would be his devastating and destructive end,” the Hussain family said. “Our hearts are in pieces for the victims and for our city as we all come to grips with this terrible tragedy. We will mourn those who were lost for the rest of our lives.”
The 13 wounded ranged in age from 10 to 59, and suffered injuries ranging from serious to minor, Police Chief Mark Saunders said. He did not name the victims, who included eight women and girls, and seven men.
A Canadian lawmaker who knew the slain 18-year-old identified her as Reese Fallon. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith told CP24 television her devastated family has asked for privacy.
An online Facebook profile said she was a student of McMaster University.
Dr. Najma Ahmed of St. Michael’s Hospital said five patients had been admitted in serious or critical condition and that three of the five underwent immediate lifesaving operations.
A video taken by a witness showed a man dressed in black clothes and a black hat walking quickly down a sidewalk and firing three shots into at least one shop or restaurant in Toronto’s Greektown, a residential area crowded with Greek restaurants and cafes.
Witnesses heard many shots and described the suspect walking past restaurants and cafes and patios on both sides of the street and firing into them.
Reports describe an exchange of gunfire between the assailant and two officers on a side street before the gunman was found dead near Danforth Avenue where the shootings occurred.
A spokesman for the Special Investigations Unit, Monica Hudon, would not say whether the gunman killed himself or was shot dead by police, and she said his identity was still being confirmed. She said an autopsy would be performed today.
Detective Sgt. Terry Browne said he could not release the name of the suspect because of the probe by the department’s Special Investigations Unit. He said police had sought a search warrant for an address related to the suspect but didn’t say where.
Tanya Wilson was closing her tattoo shop on the street when she heard gunshots and a mother and her son ran into her store with gunshot wounds in their legs.
“They said they were walking and a man told them to get the hell out his way, and he just shot them,” Wilson said.
Wilson said she tied and elevated their wounds and tried to keep them calm while they waited for paramedics. She locked the door and shut off the lights, not knowing what was happening outside.
Jody Steinhauer was celebrating her birthday with family at Christina’s restaurant on Danforth Avenue when they heard 10 to 15 shots. They ran to the back to the restaurant and hid under a table.
“We heard a woman yell, ‘Help!’ My partner went outside the restaurant and the woman was right there. She had been shot,” she said.
Her boyfriend and a doctor who was in the restaurant attended to the woman who was shot in the thigh. “She was screaming and yelling and in shock. Nobody was with her. That was the scary part,” Steinhauer said.
Police, paramedics and other first responders descended on the scene, while people, some in their pajamas, emerged from their homes to see what was happening.
Toronto Councilman Paula Fletcher told a City Council meeting on Monday that the attack was “not gang related” and said the gunman was shooting “indiscriminately” into restaurants and into a park.
“I know we always say, ‘That can’t happen here,’ when we see those gunmen in the States doing the same thing,” Fletcher said. “It has happened here now.”
Though mass shootings are rare in Canada’s largest city, Toronto police had deployed dozens of additional officers over the weekend to deal with a recent rise in gun violence in the city, which has seen 23 gun homicides so far this year, compared with 16 fatal shootings in the first half of 2017.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the confidence that Toronto is a safe city had been shaken. Toronto has long prided itself as being one of the safest big cities in the world.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that his thoughts were with everyone affected.
“The people of Toronto are strong, resilient and brave — and we’ll be there to support you through this difficult time,” Trudeau tweeted.
Elsewhere, Ottawa police arrested a 24-year-old man with a knife on Monday during the Changing of the Guard on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. No one was injured. It was unclear whether the incident was related to the mass shooting in Toronto.