Homeless shelter resident charged

Neighbours, businesses, politicians increasingly concerned about site

Toronto police have charged a resident of a midtown Toronto homeless shelter with multiple firearm charges, adding fuel to a series of incidents that have stoked neighbourhood concerns.

The incident played out shortly after 2:45 a.m. on Tuesday, police said, when they received a call about a man in possession of a handgun. Officers arrived on scene and arrested a 25year-old, who the city has since identified as a resident of the temporary shelter.

Officers said they located a modified pellet gun containing ammunition in the area. Demarcis Townsend is facing nine firearms charges.

The incident comes one week after a staff member at the temporary shelter on Broadway Avenue was stabbed, by an individual the city and police say was living at the site. The facility has been in use as a temporary shelter since April, as the city scrambled to house its homeless population during the pandemic. The plan is to move all the current residents out of the leased facility by the end of this month, as the pair of adjoining buildings have been marked for demolition.

But in recent weeks, concerns about the site have grown louder from some neighbouring residents, business owners and politicians. Mayor John Tory has defended the shelters as a necessity during the pandemic, but also noted that residents’ concerns about their safety must be heeded. Councillor Josh Matlow, speaking to the Star shortly after the arrest on Tuesday was made public, said he was “deeply upset” to hear about the latest incident. “This isn’t just about a shelter. We have to address the roots of violence in our city, we have to address mental health, we have to address addiction, we have to address the housing crisis — and we have to address community safety concerns that often come as a result of all these crises happening simultaneously,” Matlow said.

Community concerns about the shelter site have ranged from abandoned needles to fears about break-ins. Outreach worker Doug Johnson Hatlem, who works with clients at the Broadway Avenue shelter, said it was a facility that aimed to be low-barrier — an effort he applauded, but one that he said came with difficulties.

With files from Donovan Vincent, Ted Fraser and Jennifer Pagliaro Victoria Gibson is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering affordable housing. Her reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach her via email: victoriagibson@thestar.ca