1 year later: Looking back at the Eaton Centre shooting
Posted June 1, 2013 11:06 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CityNews.ca’s Erin Criger and CityNews producer Kelly Todd were finishing a normal Saturday when shots rang out at the Eaton Centre on June 2, 2012.
The gunfire began just before 6:30 p.m., killing two men and sending four people to hospital. A pregnant woman was injured as hundreds of shoppers fled the busy mall.
The newsroom quickly sprang into action. Listen to what happened in the audio slideshow.
Aftermath
In the wake of the Eaton Centre shooting Toronto police launched Project Post, which targets gangs in four high-risk communities. The mall violence was also cited when police Chief Bill Blair outlined a compulsory overtime program for his officers as part of a summer safety initiative.
The Eaton Centre shooting thrust gun violence in the city back onto the front burner and was followed later that summer by even more deadly gun violence in public places.
Two people were killed and 23 others were wounded at a community barbecue on Danzig Avenue, while in Little Italy, a man was killed in a brazen daylight attack while watching the World Cup.
Christopher Husbands, 23, surrendered to police two days after the Eaton Centre shooting and is facing two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.
Ahmed Hassan, 24, died at the scene. Nixon Nirmalendran, 22, passed away later in hospital. They are believed to be the intended targets.
A 13-year-old Port Hope, Ont., boy was shot in the head. Connor Stevenson underwent emergency surgery and is continuing to recover. This past December, he took part in his hometown’s Santa Claus parade.
