At least five shot on busy Toronto street

[Troll]

At least five shot on busy Toronto street
Two suspects arrested after gunfire breaks out among shoppers
TORONTO - One person was shot to death and four others wounded Monday in a shooting on a Toronto street crowded with holiday shoppers, police said.

They said two suspects were arrested and at least one firearm was seized shortly after the 5:30 p.m. violence near the popular Eaton Centre shopping mall.

Details were sketchy. Police did not immediately say if the two were suspected of opening fire or if the victims had been purposely targeted.

Officials said the four wounded were hospitalized, but provided no details of the injuries.

Emergency vehicles crowded around the scene, which was cordoned off with yellow police tape.

“Someone said they were shot and everyone went to the back of the store,” said Magnolia Sandoval, an employee at a camera store.

A rash of recent guns deaths in Toronto prompted Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to announce earlier this month that his government would ban handguns if he were re-elected in the Jan. 23 elections.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10610069/

[canoilers]

Thats hardcore, and its just getting worse. Thanks for the info.

[Marine]

My, sounds like a dangerous place...I'm glad we have the right to protect ourselves down here.

[canoilers]

So much Toronto being Friendly after this year I don't think you can say that any more.

[canoilers]

I teen girl died and at least 6 others injured as it stands now.


http://edmsun.canoe.ca/News/Canada/2005/12/27/1369491-sun.html

Shoppers dive for cover as men open fire on Toronto street
By ROB LAMBERTI AND BRIAN GRAY, SUN MEDIA




Hail of bullets on Toronto street


Paramedics work on a shooting victim outside of a Foot Locker store on Yonge Street in Toronto yesterday after holiday shoppers ducked a hail of bullets. Two men were later arrested. A teenage girl was killed and at least six others injured. (FRED THORNHILL, Sun Media)
TORONTO -- A teenage girl out shopping with a parent was killed by a gunshot to the head, and at least six other people were hit by slugs flying through throngs of shoppers in a Boxing Day bloodbath on Yonge Street yesterday afternoon.

Among the injured was an off-duty Toronto constable, who was grazed in the leg and did not require hospitalization.

Two of the five people taken to hospital were in serious condition last night.

The slain teen, believed to be an innocent victim caught in the middle of a deadly argument, is Toronto's 78th murder victim, the 52nd by gunfire.

Two male suspects, including a teenager, were arrested at a subway station a short distance from the shootings. One was armed with a handgun, which was seized by arresting officers. Charges had not yet been laid last night, police said.


The tragedy, however, did little to stop shoppers seeking deals in the area just north of the Eaton Centre from finding them, and some stores, which had their front doors blocked by yellow police tape, opened rear doors to allow shoppers in.

Toronto Chief Bill Blair said two men who were standing on the street opened fire for reasons that were not immediately clear. He did not say if the two were shooting at each other or targeting people in the crowd.

There were six known shooting victims but there could be as many as eight, police said.

A witness who identified himself only by his first name Vikram said he saw a BMW with two men in it drive north on Yonge, and as it approached Elm, they opened fire.

"They had guns in there," Vikram said, adding the two men fired "eight to 10 shots."

He said he saw "two girls drop," injured by the gunfire.

He described the victims as being young teens.

Vikram said shoppers dropped to the ground or ran into area businesses seeking refuge. He said it took two or three minutes before calm returned to the area, and that was because emergency crews began arriving.

"People were running all over," he said. "The people were running in (stores) to save their lives, lying down on the ground."

His cousin Avhay Rawat, who was shopping in the Future Shop, said a couple of people ran into the store screaming that shots were being fired.

Witness John O'Brien said he overheard two men arguing behind him on Yonge. He said he then heard a volley of shots and saw four victims on the ground, two in front of the Foot Locker store and two by the neighbouring Pizza Pizza shop.

It's the third time the area has been the scene of a shooting this year.

In April, three innocent bystanders were wounded in a shooting, while in July, in front of police and hundreds of bystanders, a man was shot dead in a gang retribution attack.

[canoilers]

The Right to bare arms doesn't seem to have an effect on whether you get shot or not, thats how it seems to me. People get shot all the time in the States, I mean its got the highest number of gun deaths of any country on this planet. A bullets not going to avoid you just because you happen to be packing.

[canoilers]

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2005/12/27/1369505-sun.html

Bystanders tell of running for cover, victims lying bleeding on the ground
By BRIAN GRAY AND NATALIE PONA, SUN MEDIA




Teen girl dies


TORONTO -- Boxing Day shoppers expecting Boxing Day deals yesterday were instead dodging bullets and climbing over one another to find shelter from gunfire.

A teen-aged girl was killed, while at least six other people were injured.

Adam, who asked not to have his last name used, said he left his Elm Street falafel store when he heard the shots, not able to identify the loud banging as gunfire.

He realized something was horribly wrong when he saw that all Yonge Street shoppers appeared to be cowering on the ground.

"Everybody was scared," he said.


He saw two bleeding victims lying on the street, a black man and a young white woman. The woman was bleeding profusely from her head. She was surrounded by shopping bags.

"There was a lot of blood. I hope she's okay," Adam said.

The woman wasn't moving.

The black man, who appeared to have been shot in the buttocks, was talking on his cellphone, Adam said.

There were hundreds of potential witnesses on Yonge Street who likely heard or saw something during the shooting.

Once the crowd calmed down, many shoppers eagerly recounted tales of hearing gunfire, then of following the crowd in running for cover.

"All of a sudden, we hear this ruckus and people started running in," said Hawrah Al-Yakoob, who had been shopping at Future Shop on Yonge Street.

She said she saw two Chinese women, a white woman and a black man lying on the street, injured by the rain of bullets.

Shoppers in most stores and on the street said they took cover on the floor once the shooting started.

Abraham, who asked not to have his last name published, said he heard five or six shots.

"Everybody just dropped to the ground," Abraham said.

When the shooting stopped, a car sped north down Yonge Street, driving in the wrong lane, Abraham said.

"The wheels were spinning. A person was trying to get away," he said.

Once the gunfire stopped, customers emerged from the stores to survey the carnage.

"We came out wondering what the hell was going on," Abraham said.

Two men arguing earlier caught the attention of John O'Brien, 23, as he was walking north on Yonge Street.

"They were both pretty short and they acted like they thought they were gangsters," O'Brien said. "One guy pulls out a gun and I could hear shots go off."