Mother, 6-year-old terrified by brazen rooftop Annex shooting

A 6-year-old captured terrifying moments on camera after gunshots rang out on the rooftop just outside the family's Annex apartment in the middle of the day.

By News Staff

A man and woman are facing multiple charges after a gun was fired in the Annex neighbourhood on Saturday afternoon.

Officers responded to a call for the sound of gunshots in the Bloor Street West and Spadina Avenue area around 3:20 p.m.

Police say a man with a handgun climbed to the rooftop of a commercial building and allegedly shot three times in an unknown direction.

As police arrived on scene, the man tried to hide the gun in a trash can. Officers found a loaded 9mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic pistol on scene.

No injuries were reported but it proved to be a terrifying ordeal for a mother and her six-year-old son who witnessed the brazen act of violence from their apartment window.

“Oh my god, oh my god guys, I just heard a big gunshot, Im not kidding,” the voice of the traumatized child can be heard saying on the tape.

“I was so scared, my eyes were closed and then I, like, jumped,” the child later told CityNews.

The woman, who did not wish to be identified our of fear for her and her son’s safety, says she knew right away the sound was gunshots.

“As a mother, when you’re lying in bed, and you’ve woken up from a nap, and you hear that sound – and your child looks at you with complete fear like he did and he said ‘mama what’s that’ and it’s this complete fear in his face,” the woman tells CityNews. “I’m thinking, is this person right outside our window? And you’re telling your kid to get down. There’s no words to express that because you’re trying to protect someone that’s so vulnerable.”

The woman has been living in the Annex since 1993 but says lately the area surrounding her home has become a safety concern for her and her son.

“We’ve had problems with people coming up on the roof, hanging out, dealing drugs on our patio, graffiti. We’ve had to call the police,” she explained. “And when I heard this I just thought this is the next level. I was just stunned.”

“I was thinking this is what we see on the news, and now I’m on the news.”

Steve Andrade, 41, of Toronto was arrested and is facing six charges including possession of a restricted firearm without a licence, possession of a loaded firearm and discharging a firearm recklessly.

Police say after further investigation a woman was also arrested for her involvement in relation to the firearm.

Dalma Becsei, 48, of Mississauga is charged with unsafe storage of a firearm, possession of a firearm at a place contrary to license and transfer of firearm without authority.

They were both scheduled to appear in court on Sunday.

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