Chief Blair insists city is safe despite spike in shootings

It was a dangerous long weekend on the streets of the GTA with at least six shootings since Saturday, including one that claimed a 25-year-old man’s life.

Three of those shootings happened in Toronto, including one that injured a toddler. In that incident, it’s believed the bullet came from a high-powered assault rifle like an AK-47 that was fired into the air from several kilometres away.

On Tuesday morning Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair addressed the spate of weekend violence and a report in the Toronto Sun citing an unnamed officer who described the city as a “warzone.”  

“When we say that this is a safe city with low crime, we’re not saying there’s no crime. And anyone who suggests otherwise simply isn’t really being honest about it,” he said.

“Relative to other large urban centres this is a remarkable [sic] safe city, but we still have some issues.”

Click here to see a map of this year’s shootings.

Blair also noted there were no homicides in Toronto over the holiday weekend — there was a shooting death in Mississauga — and said the city’s murder rate is currently lower than it was last year. Blair said 2011 had the lowest number of homicides in nearly three decades.

There have been 25 murders so far this year (15 shootings, three stabbings and seven listed as “other”), compared to 26 homicides in 2011 (14 shootings, three stabbings and nine listed as “other”).

The chief did say Toronto has experienced an increase in shootings in which no injuries have been reported, and said that is “a concern.”

Here is a brief look at some shooting statistics, according to Toronto Police:

  • There have been 131 shootings in the city so far this year, representing a 30 per cent increase from 2011.
  • There have been 163 victims of the 2012 shootings, representing a 37 per cent increase in shooting victims from 2011 when there were 119.
  • There have so far been 64 shootings without reported victims — up 56 per cent (or 41 incidents) from last year.
  • There have been 15 shooting deaths so far this year, compared to 14 in 2011.

A two-year-old girl was shot in the leg while sitting in a parked car outside a relative’s house on Saturday in the Sentinel Road and Sheppard Avenue area. On Sunday night, a man was shot near Ashbridges Bay, shortly after the public fireworks display ended. And on Monday, a man was shot on Toro Road, near Keele Street and Finch Avenue.

There have been no arrests in these cases.

Outside of the city, 25-year-old Dennis Alexander was shot to death at a party on Brandon Gate Drive, near Goreway Road and Steeles Avenue in Mississauga around 2 a.m. Sunday.

Police also say bullets were fired at two houses in Durham Region — one shooting happened on Sunday on Malaga Road, near Bloor Street and Park Road in Oshawa and another happened Monday night at a home on Ivers Court, near Westney Road and Highway 401 in Ajax. No one was hurt and no arrests have been made.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today