One dead in Greektown shooting hours after anniversary memorial held
Posted July 23, 2023 8:22 am.
Last Updated July 23, 2023 7:20 pm.
A man is dead after a shooting in Toronto’s Greektown early Sunday morning, just hours after a memorial marking the fifth anniversary of a mass shooting in the same neighbourhood.
Police say gunshots rang out near Danforth and Carlaw avenues at around 3:30 a.m. and the man who was shot was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition where he was later pronounced dead.
Police have not shared the man’s identity, nor have they released information about possible suspects.
Hours earlier and just a few steps down the road, the city had held an informal gathering to mark five years since a man went on a shooting rampage along the bustling thoroughfare, killing two people and injuring 13 others.
Police haven’t shared information to suggest the two events are connected.
RELATED: ‘Lives were changed forever’: Survivors, mourners gather to mark Danforth shooting anniversary
Ken Price, whose daughter was shot and injured in the 2018 attack, said he had planned on decompressing on Sunday after mentally preparing for the anniversary.
But when he and his family woke up, they learned about the latest shooting.
“It’s jarring,” he said.
At the memorial, Mayor Olivia Chow had talked about the need to acknowledge tragedy while also focusing on the positive things about Toronto, Price noted.
“And then you have that happen right in the face of that, it was really, really sad.”
Price’s daughter was out with friends on the night that a 29-year-old man opened fire on Danforth Avenue. Among them was 18-year-old Reese Fallon, who was killed in the incident. The other person killed, Julianna Kozis, was just 10 years old.
But the shooting affected more than just those injured and killed, Price said. It sent shockwaves through entire communities.
He said the same will be true of Sunday morning’s shooting. While he said it’s too soon to draw conclusions about the nature of the shooting, he said it underscores the need for supports for victims.
“There’s a victim, but there’s (also) a family and there’s a community and lots of people, first responders, that are going to have to deal with this incident in their lives,” he said.
