Shock Follows Shooting Near High School
Posted May 28, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
They practice lockdowns. And they’ve been in the real thing before.
Some of them have been for false alarms. Others for serious problems.
The teens who attend Mother Teresa Catholic Secondary School are getting used to the threat of violence near their campus. So when a man was shot to death in broad daylight outside their classrooms Wednesday morning, many were horrified. But sadly, a large number weren’t all that surprised.
“It’s not anything new,” one student notes without much emotion. “It usually happens around here so everyone’s getting, like, used to it.”
Her reaction speaks volumes about her past experience. “That is very unfortunate because it’s not something that people are supposed to be immune to.”
Others acknowledge it’s not the first time they’ve been through a lockdown exercise, one that can often be a combination of nervous fear and extreme boredom. “This is probably like the fifth, tenth [time] probably,” another teen explains.
For the parents and residents who call the neighbourhood home, it’s a terrible precedent. “I have small kids in that place,” one mother states, an edge of fear in her voice. “Too scared. My daughter’s grade 8 now … Always she’s scared.”
“It happens all the time,” adds another. “We need more cops around here. It’s not good. We need security. We don’t need hall monitors in our school. We need cops in our school.”
A recent Toronto School Board overhaul, prompted by the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Manners last May, recommended an increased police presence around city campuses. But it stopped short of putting officers in the schools themselves, a tactic that wouldn’t necessarily have prevented this crime since it took place off campus grounds.
Still, many adults feel having the cops closer could have lead them to a suspect, a gun toting dangerous murderer who’s still on the loose.
