Toronto police have arrested and charged a third suspect in the shooting death of a man in the city's west end earlier this month.
Abdirahman Islow, 27, of no fixed address has been charged first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Nnamdi Ogba.
Ogba was shot to death while walking to his car in a Toronto Community Housing complex after visiting friends on March 16.
Police spokeswoman Katrina Arrogante says Islow, who was arrested Thursday night, is the alleged driver of a getaway car used in the shooting.
Two other men — Trevaughan Miller, 19, and Abdullahi Mohamed, 22 — were arrested earlier Thursday and also charged with first-degree murder.
Arrogante says Islow made a court appearance Friday morning in Toronto.
Officials have said that Ogba was an innocent bystander caught in a dispute between residents of two neighbourhoods.
Investigators believe the shooters come from another area of the city and "harbour some sort of animosity" toward the area where the shooting took place, Det. Jason Shankaran said Thursday.
Ogba was an electrical engineer and had no criminal record. He was engaged to be married.
"Mr. Ogba did nothing to bring this upon himself. The evidence we have in front of us tells us that Mr. Ogba's lifestyle, his activities, anything he did prior did not lead to this particular incident,'' Shankaran said of Ogba when police were looking for suspects earlier this month.
"The only thing that led to his death was simply walking out of that building at that particular time and place.''
Toronto Real Estate Bidding Wars For Rent
Looking to rent an apartment in Toronto? A look
at the obstacles being faced by tenants searching for a home in the
city's red-hot housing market. Please share this
Canada's threat level has been the same for the past four years, but
with acts of terror taking place around the world, Toronto is one of the
cities that's not taking any chances when it comes to the safety of
their residents. Toronto's mayor says new measures implemented around
major venues aren't a reaction to a specific threat — Mayor John Tory
did hint however that they are a response to documentation that was
compiled by various security agencies regarding safety at public
buildings that attract big crowds.
Please share this
Two Toronto men have been charged in the Etobicoke shooting death of
26-year-old Nnamdi Ogba. Police said Ogba was the victim of a “cowardly”
attack meant to strike fear in the west end community.
AURORA — Police have charged two people and are looking for a third in an ongoing human trafficking investigation.
York Regional Police began investigating a human trafficking incident March 7 when a victim went to police looking for help.
Alexandra Manner, 21, of Burlington, and Deyshon Palmer, 22, of Brampton, who face several charges in relation to human trafficking.
Officials are asking for help in locating 39-year-old Marvin Bryan, of Brampton, who is wanted on a warrant in connection with the human trafficking investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 6800.
TORONTO — Two teens face a number of firearms charges after police recovered a 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a Dan Wesson Airsoft, and a 2.5 calibre revolver in the Kensington Market area Monday.
Around 1:25 p.m., two security guards were patrolling a parking garage in the St. Andrew St. and Kensington Ave. area, when they came across two teen boys smoking pot, police said Tuesday. The two fled and after a brief chase, the guards caught them.
A 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun recovered in the arrest of two teens on March 26, 2018 in the Kensington Market area.
One of the boys allegedly had a ski mask, a 12-gauge
Browning semi-automatic shotgun with its barrel and butt-stock cut down,
and two rounds of ammunition.The other teen also had a ski mask, a Dan
Wesson Airsoft, 2.5 calibre revolver, and marijuana, according to
police.
A ski mask recovered in the arrest of two teens on March 26, 2018 in the Kensington Market area.
A 15-year-old and a 16-year-old face numerous charges, including disguise with intent and carrying a concealed weapon.They cannot be identified because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
TORONTO — Toronto Police are hunting six men and a woman after a man was robbed in Chinatown last month.
According to investigators, the 26-year-old victim went into a store near College St. and Spadina Ave. on Feb. 24 around 3:20 a.m. to use an ATM. A man followed him in and waited beside him while he took out cash. A second man entered the vestibule and watched him withdraw the money, police said Tuesday.
A third man then entered the vestibule and followed the victim when he exited the store. Once outside, the victim was allegedly swarmed by a large group, including the three men in the store.
The thieves stole his iPhone 6, cellphone and a wallet, police said, adding four men and a woman were seen using the man’s bank card at different stores in the area.
The suspects are described as:
Male #1: about 25 years old, 5-foot-11, medium build, wearing a red and black plaid lumberjack patterned cap, white T-shirt, red sweater, brown jacket with white stitching and white fur, very light blue jeans, and black and white sneakers.
Male #2: 25-30 years old, about 5-foot-8, medium build, short dark hair, unshaven, wearing a blue hoodie, black jacket, black pants.
Male #3: 20 to 30 years old, wearing a black parka with fur trim on the hood, black pants, and black shoes.
Male #4: Unknown age, wearing blue jacket, red tuque, red pants, red shoes with white soles and a white face covering around the lower part of the face.
Male #5: Unknown age, wearing a black baseball hat, red jacket with white trimmed hood, black hoodie, black pants and white shoes.
Male #6: Unknown age, thin build, black hair, thin mustache, wearing black jacket with hood, black sweater with ‘The North Face’ on the front in white print, light blue jeans, and black shoes.
The woman suspect is heavy set, with shoulder length black hair, and was wearing a black winter jacket with fur-trimmed hood, black tights, and black boots.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-1400 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS.
OK, I admit it. I’m an odonymist, at least I hope that’s the word for one who enjoys discovering the origins of street names.
And while I can’t find this unusual word in any dictionary, I do know that the first part of the word, odonym, is an identifying name given to a thoroughfare, be it a street, avenue, trail or whatever.
So, just as deltiology is the study of postcards (which I do) and a deltiologist is a student or collector of postcards (which I also do), I’m taking the leap that an odonymist is one who studies the origin of street names.
What say you, professor?
Toronto at Avenue Rd. looking north at Bloor St. W
Now, having made that assumption, what brings the word odonymist to mind is an email I received recently from Barbara Craig, a Sun reader who has issues, as do I, with the selection of names for some of the stations on the Eglinton Crosstown LTR line now under construction and which has a projected opening date sometime in 2021.
Now, before the Metrolinx people point out the fact that the naming selection has been going on for several years and yes, perhaps I should have paid more attention to what was taking place and should have discovered the “online engagement tool” featured on the Metrolinx.com website. Sorry guys, missed it.
You had a daunting task to be sure especially when it came to ensuring there was no duplication with station names on the existing TTC subway system. This accounts for Warden being identified on the Crosstown line as Golden Mile, there already being a Warden on the TTC’s Line 2.
Another example of this dilemma is the Crosstown station at Bathurst St. that will be called Forest Hill as there is already a Bathurst on Line 2. Another will be Fairbank at the Dufferin St. intersection since Dufferin is another Line 2 station.
The Crosstown surface stop at the Leslie and Eglinton intersection will be known as Sunnybrook Park, there already being a Leslie, and again it’s on Line 2. Crosstown’s station at Bayview Ave. is to be called Leaside there being a Bayview on the TTC’s Line 3.
Other stations along the Eglinton LRT route will take their respective names from nearby intersections: Caledonia, Oakwood, Chaplin, Mount Pleasant, Laird, Wynford, Sloane (should add hyphen and street opposite, Bermondsey, see Hakimi – Lebovic), O’Connor (even though O’Connor doesn’t intersect with Eglinton), Pharmacy, Wynford, Hakimi – Lebovic, Birchmount, Ionview and Kennedy.
But wait, you’re on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT and you wish to get off at Yonge St. That station is to be known as Eglinton. This one really needs to be hyphenated even though the “Naming Principles and Protocols” adopted by Metrolinx has determined hyphenation is to be avoided.
All this said, there is one Crosstown station name that both reader Barb and I (and others I suspect) find disagreeable and inaccurate certainly from a Toronto history point-of-view. The name that we are questioning is the one that has been selected for the station that will be located at the Eglinton and Avenue Rd. intersection.
As it now stands, this station will be identified simply as Avenue even though since the beginning of time (well, since the mid-1800s anyway) this thoroughfare has always been known by its full name, Avenue Rd. In fact, in the very earliest days of our community a definite article was assigned to the thoroughfare’s name resulting in the term The Avenue Road.
And why was that term selected?
Because the road was originally laid out as the pioneer northern thoroughfare to and from “the Avenue” — the latter being an early and colloquial term for the original name of the thoroughfare, the College Ave., now called University Ave.
As an aside, the College Ave. had received its name as it was laid out as a privately owned access road by the officials of King’s College, a school of higher learning that in 1850 was renamed the University of Toronto.
From these facts I hope the powers that be reconsider the name of the Eglinton and Avenue Rd. LRT station and give it the more authentic title, Avenue Rd. Please share this
BRAMPTON — A second Brampton man has been made in the fatal assault on a 21-year-old man earlier this week.
Peel Regional Police have charged 22-year-old Guryodh Singh Khattra with first-degree murder in the death of Paviter Singh Bassi.
Bassi was found Monday at about 5:50 p.m. in the area of Sandalwood Parkway E. and Cedarcliff Trail suffering from life-threatening injuries. He died the next day in hospital.
Police arrested and charged 22-year-old Karanvir Singh Bassi with first-degree murder on Tuesday. Police say there’s no familial relationship between the two men, despite them sharing a last name.
Both Bassi and Khattra have appeared in court for bail hearings, and police are asking anyone with information to call 905-453-2121, ext 3205. Please share this
No one in Canadian policing cares that wanted fugitive Ronjot Singh Dhami’s lawyer suggests he may turn himself in on Monday.
The manhunt for Dhami and his fellow alleged punks, who are wanted on Canada-wide warrants, is in high gear no matter how much nonsense is spun.
In 30 years of journalism, I have never heard of a lawyer saying his client “maintains his innocence” but will come in at his convenience. That was a new one.
But since he did go public with this, my suggestions for counsel Jag Virk is to gently ask his client if he wouldn’t mind — if it doesn’t put him out any and if he won’t miss any social appointments or have his feelings hurt — dropping by the Peel Regional Police’s 12 Division a little sooner.
Like maybe right now?
Let’s get this straight. You Ronjot and your pals are wanted for a brutal March 13 attack of a 29-year-old autistic man in the bus station next to Square One in Mississauga. The attack was caught on a video that went viral, but you want a leisurely long weekend of freedom before facing charges?
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday!
Noonish Monday work for you? Maybe get a nice breakfast in and a workout? How about a roller blade?
Perhaps, be so kind and ask Parmvir Singh Chahil, 21, who’s also wanted for the attack, to pop by too?
And the third unknown sluggo?
Peel Regional Police are looking for three men in connection with the beating of an autistic man at Square One bus terminal on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.
Why not make it April 1. Not only is that day appropriate, it’s also what the suspect must think that the people trying to catch him must be. All I know is if someone gets hurt in the days of freedom or somebody decides to flee, there’s going to be some interesting conversations with anybody who may be helping these guys hide out.
It seems these suspects don’t seem to have any idea who they are dealing with. This is No Deal Peel. They catch and convict criminals. So good luck Ronjot. The fool is you.
True you have a head start but when Peel is on the chase, you might want to look over your shoulder because they and their law enforcement partners across the country just might be there. They are looking under every rock and I hope they catch you.
Peel Regional Police believe the three people caught on surveillance footage attacking a man could be from B.C. In fact, I want to help. I found some new pictures of Dhami from his younger days so you can see him fresh faced, just in case it occurs to him to shave.
If you see any of them, don’t approach. Just call your police department.
One good thing about these guys being on the loose is it’s giving law enforcement more time to gather evidence. For example, one thing officers have learned is that Dhami was known to police in British Columbia and was hoping to get a permanent residence here.
“He had applied for an Ontario driver’s licence,” an Government of Ontario source told me.
Parmvir Singh Chahil, 25, is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant, suspected of being one of three men caught on video attacking a helpless man with autism at a Mississauga bus station on March 13, 2018.
In fact, he had just applied for it before this incident in which three guys were seen on video pummelling an innocent autistic man taking off his roller blades. “Police went out to the address he put down and found it didn’t exist,” said the source, adding “ironically the pretend address was next to where the bus terminal is.”
Peel Police would not comment but acknowledged they are following up on many leads.
This was a vicious assault that broke an innocent man’s nose but also has created trust and fear issues for the fine soul who didn’t deserve to be picked on just because he was sitting there in a vulnerable state.
The bad news is the alleged attackers are still on the loose. The good news is there is not one person who follows the news in Canada who is not on the lookout for them. Please share this
It looks like the good people at Sidewalk Labs are trying to familiarize themselves with Toronto before building their own "futuristic mini-city" inside of it.
Released
today by the Alphabet-owned Sidewalk Labs, OldTO maps more than 30,000
historic photographs from the City of Toronto Archives onto our
current street network.
This means that anyone can search and explore images of the city's
history, based on its geography, thanks to the power of geocoding.
It's easy to use, totally free and very, very dangerous to the productivity of office workers.
"As we think about the kinds of digital tools that help people
develop, navigate, and maintain neighbourhoods and cities, the ability
to organize information geographically and by time comes up again and
again as a critical requirement," reads a blog post from Sidewalk Labs explaining the project.
"Old Toronto relies on some of the same technologies that can support a future neighborhood,
and as we continue to build new prototypes, we will use them to explore
the digital infrastructure needed for more substantial applications."
Right now, clicking on a photo will show any information
contained in the description of the archival holding, such as the date,
title, condition and copyright restrictions.
The photos sourced for this project were taken all over the GTA, well
beyond the 12-acre section of Toronto's eastern waterfront that
Sidewalk Labs will be moving into.
Here is Lady Eaton and some friends at a garden party in King City circa 1930, for instance.
Here's a "coal & coke" shop near Woodbine Avenue and Gerard Street East in 1938.
And here are the (seemingly reluctant) first place winners of the "Danforth Baby Show" near Pape and Cosburn in August of 1930.
Engineers say they're exploring additional features to add to the tool, including an aerial button that will "enable people to see how the city has changed from a bird's-eye view."
They're also releasing the data in JSON format and encouraging software developers to go nuts and create their own features.
"We suspect there are many creative uses of this data that we haven’t
thought of, and people will only come up with them when the data is
easily available," reads the post.
"We're also in the process of preparing OldTO for release as an
open-source tool, so local urban-tech enthusiasts or civic hackers can
build on top of it."
Over time, the company plans to add even more images from both the city archives and other sources. The blog post notes that the city archive alone holds more than 1.7 million photographs dating all the way back to 1856.
Lots of white, Christian countries in the top 20, big surprise.
For the second year in a row, Toronto is celebrating its sweet 16th place status on Mercer's annual Quality of Living Ranking.
Mercer, a massive research and consulting firm based in New York City, released its 20th annual version of the well-regarded ranking on Tuesday.
The firm spoke to "Canada's continued strong performance" in 2018
when releasing the data, noting that four Canadian cities had placed in
the top 25 and that "recreational cannabis is expected to come into
effect nationwide" this year.
At fifth place, Vancouver came out on top for Canadian cities, while Toronto tied with Melbourne, Australia (again) at spot 16.
Ottawa wasn't too far behind, sharing 19th place with Hamburg,
Germany. Montreal just missed out on making the top 20 by tying with
Perth, Austrailia, for spot number 21.
Here are the top 25 cities in this year's Mercer ranking, in case you're just dying to know more:
The TTC Board has given its blessing to the creation of a steeply-discounted transit pass for college and university students in Toronto.
Now, all that stands between students and their long-fought-for Universal Pass (U-Pass) are the academic institutions themselves.
If – and only if – the University of Toronto, Ryerson University, OCAD University and George Brown College collectively agree to a four-year term, people who attend these schools full-time will pay just $70 a month for unlimited access to subways, streetcars and buses.
That's less than half the price of a regular adult monthly pass, and significantly cheaper than the current post-secondary rate of $116.75 – but it's also a mandatory expense.
The $280 cost of this pass ($70 a month, based on 4 months per semester) would be added automatically to an individual's regular student fees each semester.
People who live on or near campus may not benefit from the program as much as those who commute using transit every day. Still, support for the program is relatively strong among post-secondary students.
Student unions from the four schools mentioned above formed a committee to advocate for the pass late last year, telling TTC officials that 95 per cent of approximately 16,000 students who voted in an online survey were in favour of a discount pass.
TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said on Twitter yesterday that the first of several school referendums would take place next week at U of T.
The transit agency's full U-Pass policy framework details how and when the passes will be rolled out, should everything go as planned.
Students would need to carry "appropriate TTC Post-Secondary Photo ID" with them to get the discount, for instance.
Nobody would be able to opt-out of the pass unless it imposes a burden related to personal circumstances protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
The U-Pass would be only issued by schools, to their own students, on PRESTO cards, to prevent fraud, and be available during all three semesters.
A 31-year-old man has been hospitalized after an early-morning shooting just south of Yonge and Bloor on Monday.
Emergency services were called at around 4:30 a.m. to 7 West Cafe, a 24-hour restaurant on Charles St., according to Toronto Paramedic Services. They were originally called for a report of a fight.
The victim was found nearby, but it isn’t clear whether he was inside or outside the restaurant when the shooting took place. He was taken to hospital in serious condition, paramedics said, but is expected to survive.
Charles St. remains blocked off for a police investigation.
No information is yet available on a suspect. Please share this
Mayor John Tory’s executive committee has ignored pleas to bring a key report on the city’s long-term financial future before council.
The long-awaited report from outgoing City Manager Peter Wallace explains the pitfalls ahead — including a $1.42-billion gap in the operating budget in just five years — and a partial roadmap for the way out.
After it was delayed by a year, the report was presented to executive committee with a recommendation that the new city manager come back with an actionable vision.
But despite members of the public and outside councillors asking it be considered by council as a whole — and promises from staff in December 2016 that it would be considered by council “well in advance of 2018 budget decisions” — executive committee members voted to support a motion from Tory that will see staff returning with a plan in 2019.
It is unlikely an implementation plan would have any impact before a 2020 budget, when the operating gap is expected to grow to $730 million. By law, the city must approve a balanced budget. Council can also not direct action in a new term, so the future of that plan is unclear.
“I do think this report should be forwarded to the governing body of this corporation. It contains, yet again, another analysis of the fiscal frailty of this city,” said Councillor Janet Davis, who said she asked members of the executive to support sending the item to council, but none agreed.
“I feel insulted, frankly, after four years in this term of council, that I have not been given the obligation to engage in this report and to have my community know how I stand on these very items before an election,” she said.
The municipal election is set for Oct. 22.
The item was discussed in the Scarborough Civic Centre’s council chamber on Monday. It was the first time the executive meeting has been moved from city hall in at least a decade, according to a review of public meeting minutes.
The sunken chamber was host to senior staff from several divisions who had made the trip to answer questions. Technical staff rigged up live-streaming equipment in the room. Someone brought coffee for a reception with the mayor.
During a presentation, Wallace outlined the challenges ahead without new revenue from taxes, fees or asset sales — making it difficult for council “to deliver on the vision” of plans approved to combat climate change, poverty and build out the city’s transit network.
He presented three possible futures: Cutting services to deal with a lack of revenue; maintaining the status quo with a “modest” increase in revenue, or engage in broader city building by raising substantial revenues.
The city needs $900 million over the next five years just to maintain existing service levels — to keep buses coming as often as they do now, maintain roads at the existing pace and keep libraries open at the current hours. That money would not allow for any expansion or new programs.
In the first hypothetical scenario, council would need to cut $900 million over five years to reduce the city’s financial footprint. In the last scenario — which includes doing the things council promised or has already committed to but not funded — they would need to raise over $1 billion over the next five years.
“This is not intended to be a panacea,” Wallace told executive members about his report generally.
This was Wallace’s last executive meeting after he was tapped by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to become secretary of the Treasury Board.
About 10 members of the public who spoke on the item agreed the report should be up for debate at council.
Tory said it should be up to the next term of council to decide how to move forward, noting there are no recommendations for council to decide on now.
“This is a report that is, I think, intended to be a framework as opposed to a prescriptive set of measures that are meant to be taken forward for approval or not,” he said. “The last thing I think we need to do is actually to approve some sort of a plan that isn’t really a plan at the moment and then have council turn around and change it or reverse it.”
Budget chief Councillor Gary Crawford, in his speech, concluded: “We are in pretty good financial shape.”
For the last three years, Wallace has said council has put many important decisions off to a future date, relies too heavily on a hot housing market and faces a growing operating gap in just five years. Please share this
The fate of how Toronto’s 2018 election will be run rests in the hands of Superior Court Justice Katherine Swinton.
On Friday, in a sunlit courtroom on the second floor of Osgoode Hall just steps away from city hall, the judge heard arguments about whether the court should consider an appeal of the city’s new ward boundary structure.
In what may be an unprecedented move, the case contesting a city council decision, which was confirmed by a provincial tribunal, was brought by a sitting city councillor and a local resident.
A decision will be given at a later date.
Swinton’s judgment will be pivotal to how the municipal election on Oct. 22 will be run.
But there are pressing timelines. The nomination period for candidates to sign up and run for a council seat opens May 1 — just two months from now.
The city approved a 47-ward structure recommended by independent consultants in 2016, which would increase the number of councillors by three. That decision was affirmed by the Ontario Municipal Board, a provincial tribunal that has the final say in land-use disputes, in December. That came just before a deadline to have those ward boundaries take effect for the 2018 election.
There are now two issues that have been raised in court: Firstly, whether the court should hear an appeal of the OMB decision, and secondly, how the 2018 election should be run.
The legal team for Councillor Justin Di Ciano, who represents Ward 5 (Etobicoke Lakeshore) and Tony Natale, a real estate broker who lives in the Davenport area, argued Friday the OMB erred in its decision.
An appeal can only be heard on the basis that there has been a specific error in law.
The city’s lawyers argued that was not the case and that leave to appeal should not be granted by the court. They also argued the OMB’s decision was not appealable to the court at all.
Lawyer Bruce Engell, representing Di Ciano and Natale, also argued that the city failed to pass a bylaw confirming the number of councillors on council, which he says creates a “legal vacuum” where 47 wards could be in place but only 44 councillors elected. Toronto council is currently made up of 44 councillors and the mayor.
City lawyer Glenn Chu responded saying a bylaw confirming one councillor be elected per ward has already been passed. The city has asked the court to confirm how the election should be run: With 47 ward seats up for grabs.
None of those issues have been decided.
Di Ciano and Natale argue that a 25-ward structure, which follows federal electoral districts, is superior to the council-approved 47-ward structure.
The OMB earlier agreed with the city’s position that there were no “clear and compelling reasons” to overturn the council-approved 47-ward option.
Those arguments were rehashed in court on Friday.
“There’s no reason to doubt its correctness or reasonableness,” city lawyer Brendan O’Callaghan said of the OMB’s decision.
The 47-ward structure would see the area where Di Ciano’s family home is located cut out of the ward he currently represents. On Friday, he said that did not factor into his decision to appeal the decision. He said he believes the 47-ward option was based on a flawed methodology.
A candidate does not have to live in the ward they wish to represent, they only have to be a resident of the city. Di Ciano won with 54 per cent of the vote in 2014. Please share this
Toronto police have identified a man and a woman fatally shot at a North York bowling alley on Saturday night.
Thanh Tien Ngo, 32, and Ruma Amar, 29, were shot at the entrance to Playtime Bowl and Entertainment, 33 Samor Rd., near Dufferin Street and Lawrence Avenue West in north Toronto after 10 p.m., Det. Rob Choe said on Sunday.
Ngo was targeted by two gunman, Amar was not, he said. Ngo was pronounced dead at the scene while Amar died of her injuries in hospital later.
The shooting caused a "frenzy" inside the bowling alley. The gunmen pursued Ngo and one nearly entered the business.
Amar, at the bowling alley with her husband and sister, was caught in the crossfire as she was leaving the premises, he said.
Police are seeking three suspects, two of whom are believed to be armed with handguns. Choe said police believe there were two gunman and one getaway driver. All three were seen fleeing the scene in a dark vehicle westbound from the scene.
Bullets shattered the front glass doors of the business.
When officers arrived on the scene, they said they found the victims lying on the ground outside the bowling alley.
Both were suffering from gunshot wounds.
Ngo did not have vital signs. He was not conscious and not breathing.
Ngo was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Dave Viljakainen, deputy commander for Toronto Paramedic Services.
Amar was rushed to a Toronto trauma centre, where she later died of her injuries.
Next of kin has been notified.
Earlier, Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook said several people were at the bowling alley at the time of the killings and they scattered after the shooting.
"There were several people in the area. I would imagine just customers of the bowling alley. People were fleeing out of concern for their own safety," she said.
Autopsies to be performed on the bodies
No weapons were found at the scene.
Police said autopsies on the bodies will be performed on Sunday.
Ngo and Amar are Toronto's 13th and 14th homicide victims of the year.
Officers taped off the bowling alley and the area around it after the shooting to allow investigators to collect evidence.
The bowling alley is closed but roads in the area remain open.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-7400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, or text TOR and a message to CRIMES (274637). Please share this
History of the Toronto Police, Part 3 (1859-1875) The Militarization of the Constables
When Toronto City Council had finally admitted to the failings
of the Toronto Police several years earlier in 1855, it found that
one of the principal problems was the ability and experience of the
Chief of Police Samuel Sherwood:
The Committee are not aware that any change or want of zeal or
activity in the discharge of his duties (so far as he acquainted
with it) has ever been established against the Chief of Police but
there can be no doubt that he has not that authority over his men
or that degree of experience which is absolutely essential to
enable him to enforce a proper system of order and discipline.[1] The
City’s committee on the Circus Riot had recommended in 1855 that
the London Police be approached for a candidate from that force to
take charge in Toronto. But when it came to hire a Chief for
the new force in 1859, Toronto instead chose a military officer and not an experience police officer from the London Police. The new Police Chief was William Stratton Prince, a former Captain of the 71st Highland Light Infantry.
There is a remarkable paucity of biographical detail on Prince and
detail on how his candidacy and appointment unfolded. His
regimental history, however, hints at the qualifications that
Prince brought to the job.
The 71st Highland Light Infantry was first formed in
Glasgow in 1758 and was for the next century one of Britain’s most
battle hardened regiments. It fought in America during the War of
Independence. The regiment served under Lord Cornwallis in the
Carolinas and Virginia, and was included in the surrender at
Yorktown, 17th October, 1781; 1782-83 it fought in Southern India;
Fought at Conjeveram, Porto Novo, Sholinghur, Vellore, Cuddalore,
and Arcot; 1790-1 campaigns against Tippoo Sahib, siege of
Pondicherry, Bangalore, Seringapatam; 1805-06 assault landing at
the Cape of Good Hope and the battle of Blauberg; 1806-07 assault
and capture of Buenos Aires; 1808-09 First Peninsular Campaigns;
1809 Walcharen Expedition; 1810-14 Second Peninsular Campaigns;
1815 at Waterloo took part in breaking the last charge of
Napoleon’s Old Guard; Army of Occupation, France 1815-17 : England
and Ireland 1818-23 : Canada 1824-30 : Bermuda 1831-33 : Scotland
and Ireland 1834-37: Canada, suppressing rebellion and preventing
American infiltration attempts 1838-42 : West Indies 1843-46 :
England, Scotland and Ireland 1847-52 : Corfu 1853-54.[2]
William Stratton Prince was the son of Colonel John Prince,
who commanded the forces engaging the rebels at Windsor in 1838,
where he summarily shot rebel prisoners captured there.[3]
If Toronto was more concerned about rebellion and disorder than crime
fighting, then certainly they had a new Police Chief with
rebel-fighting both in his blood and his regimental history. (See
more on William Stratton Prince on the next page.)
It appears that upon closer consideration, London was not an
appropriate model for the Toronto Board of Police Commissioner’s
plans for the Toronto Police. London’s problems and size in 1859
were not comparable to the situation in which Toronto was
developing. US police forces were more appropriate to the task,
and several were studied, including those in New York, Boston,
Albany, and Portland, from which Boston was finally chosen as the
best example applicable to Toronto for the systemic regulations of
police patrols.[4] The Police Commissioners reported, “Those of the Boston system seems the most applicable to the city of Toronto, and that system has the reputation of being the best and most effective of all the cities in the States.”[5]
The number of constables was fixed at sixty, being “something under one policeman to each 800 inhabitants,
which, as compared with populations, is a less number of
policement [sic] to a given population than the average number in the
cities of the United States to which a reference has been made,
while in the city of London, England, there are 6000 policemen in a
population of 2 million, being one police man to every 333
inhabitants.”[6]
The Commissioners, “found, whenever there is a mixed population and
a good deal of intercourse by travel, that one policeman to about
eight hundred of the population is thought to be necessary.”[7]
The Board also reported, “In the opinion of the Commissioners
no division of labour which provides less than three changes or
reliefs in every 24 hours can be accomplished without greatly
endangering the efficiency as well as the health and life of the
police forces.”[8] Toronto finally had a municipal night watch.
It was decided to dismiss the entire police force: “The
Commissioners resolved as a first, and the least invidious step, to
dissolve the existing force altogether, and to appoint or
re-appoint to the new force such persons only as after a close
examination should prove qualified to discharge the police duties,
giving the preference in anything like equal qualifications to the
members of the old force.”[9]
As previously pointed out, only half of the old Toronto Police
Force were rehired and most were post-Circus Riot recruits, hired
under Toronto’s unilateral board of commissioner “experiment” of
1857-58 prior to the Province’s amendment of the Municipality Act.[10]Fifty-eight
constables were actually hired, of which 5 were Presbyterian, 8
Roman Catholic including one of the three Sergeant-Majors, while
the remaining 45 were Anglican Episcopalians. At least forty-two constables were Irish,
but the nominal and descriptive roll is illegible in portions and a
final tally is difficult to determine. (The slightly modified
force of the following year shows forty-four Irish constables in a
force of 56.)[11] Eight had served in the military, while 19 served on other British police forces, the majority in the Irish Constabulary.[12]The propensity was to hire constable from outside the community of Toronto.
This distancing of Toronto police officers from the inhabitants
of the city characterized the new constabulary from the first order issued by the new Chief of Police on February 10, 1859: Orders
No. 1 Police when on their Beat are on no account to loiter or
enter into conversation with passengers in the streets. Should any one
address them by asking a question with regards to the locality of
any place they will give what information they may have in their
power as short as possible, and resume their patrol.[13]
Subsequent orders further delineated the distance Toronto Police officers were to keep from the citizenry: The men of the Force are given to understand that they
are not permitted to lodge at hotels on any account whatever.
Constables must have their own private lodgings and on no account
be seen lounging and talking about bar rooms and public houses.[14]
It will be the duty of the non-commissioned officer to
see that their men reside at the houses of respectable parties. New
appointments will also report personally to the Chief the name of
the parties they board with and the street and number of the house.
The Force are again reminded that residence in saloons and public
houses will not be permitted.[15]
The Chief exerted strict control over virtually every aspect of
the police officer’s lives. Unmarried officers were housed in
special barracks and those wanting to marry, had to get approval
from the Chief to do so and for their subsequent place of residence
which was restricted to “respectable areas” of the city.[16] Even how officers ate, was a matter of concern for Chief Prince:
The Chief Constable requests the Constables on taking
their meals will be respectfully dressed or, he will issue an order to
enforce it, he trusts that the majority of the constables out of
respect for themselves and what is due to the respectability of the
Force, will report to the Chief Constable any constable guilty of
an act of gross indecency of this kind, as sitting down with his
coat off as conduct of this kind is nothing more or less than a
disgrace to the force and will be treated as such.[17]
The constables did not take Chief Prince’s military discipline
lightly, even though many had previous military experience. In 1872 Prince
introduced ‘beat cards’ which scheduled minute by minute where
constables were to be on their beat. The Toronto Police officers
threatened to go on strike if Prince and two sergeants did not
resign and the ‘beat card’ system was not abandoned. The Board of
Commissioners responded by firing the entire force, and when
defeated constables began to trickle in requesting their jobs back,
sixteen of them were not rehired.[18]
In an era when organized labour strikes were rare, it is remarkable
to see the Toronto Police among those attempting to take labour
action. (The Toronto Police would strike again in 1918.) Along
with their desirable character traits, Toronto’s constables were
assigned a social class category. The Toronto police officer,
in the estimation of Chief William Prince:
Should be in the prime of manhood, mentally
and bodily; shrewd, intelligent and possessed of a good English
education; trustworthy, truthful, and of a general good character,
in order to command a moral as well as an official influence over
those among whom he may be required to act, and subject to the most
rigid discipline; he should, in fact, be a man above the class of
labourers and equal, if not superior, to the most responsible class of
journeymen mechanics.[19]
The Toronto Police were thoroughly imbued with military discipline:
The position of “attention” that position which the
officers and constables will present at all times in addressing the
Bench, and in giving evidence and indeed at all times on being
questioned on points of duty, is as follows: The heels must be
in a line and closed — the knees straight — the toes turned out so
that the feet may form an angle of 60 degrees — the arms hanging
straight down for the shoulders — the elbows turned in and close to the
sides — the thumb kept close to the forefinger — the Head to be
bent and in giving evidence the body, arms and hands to be perfectly
steady — in fact — exactly the same position as a soldier in
the Ranks or parade addressing his Officer.[20]
Individually Toronto Police officers were expected to perform their duties with moderation in their use of force:
In the arrest of criminals and disorderly characters,
drunkards, especially the latter, men are cautioned against the
unnecessary use of the baton when persuasion and a little patience
on the part of the policeman would suppress all violence on the
part of those arrested.[21]
This was strictly enforced when a constable was suspended for giving a prostitute on his beat a kick: P.C. Taylor was suspended and brought before the
commissioners of police to answer to a complaint preferred against him
for having wantonly used violence to a woman of bad character in
Church Street by giving her a kick. The commissioners find the
complaint is correct and caution the said constable to be more
careful for the future. Violence is not on any account to be used
except in self defense or in prisoners resisting – and it is absurd
to a degree that constables should loose all control over their
tempers on being abused by a drunken woman. Constables are supposed
to be above caring for abuse from persons of that description.[22]
While Toronto Police officers were urged towards moderating the
use of force in the performance of their individual duties, they
were drilled incessantly in the use of highly lethal collective
force. Drill took place three times a week[23]
and infantry manuals were distributed to the Sergeant Majors who
were expected to drill the constables in battlefield maneuvers.[24]
The nature of these drills are vividly outlined in this extract of
Chief Prince’s complex orders for the procedure of clearing streets by
the use of highly concentrated and coordinated rifle fire:
The following is the order in which street firing is
conducted, and in order that men should have a theoretical knowledge of
the same as well as practical, the following is a description of
the drill with regard to clearing streets.
The company being in column of subdivisions — the
commander of the leading subdivision will give the word, “Right (or
left) Subdivision” “Ready” “Present” “Shoulder Arms” “Four
Deep” and remain steady. The commander of the rear subdivision at the
same time giving the following words of command “Rear
Subdivision” “Four Deep” “by the left, Quick March.” The
subdivision will then advance passing through the opening of fours of
the Front subdivision and when advanced 20 paces will halt. The
commander of the right subdivision will immediately on the left
passing through it, give the word of command, “Front” “Load” then
“Shoulder Arms” “by the left, Quick March” whilst the commander of
the then leading subdivision immediately on the rear one receiving
the word Quick March, will give the word of command, “left
Subdivision” “Ready” “present” “Shoulder Arms” “Four
deep” — and the right subdivision forming four deep advancing, will
proceed through the left halting at 20 paces in front, the rear
subdivision at the same time loading as before directed, and thus
the subdivisions will advance and fire alternately.[25]
For new reformed Toronto Police in the 1860s, proactive crime
fighting was less on the agenda then the preparedness for meeting
mass hostile threats emanating from within the city. Where the
threat was perceived to come from has already been described above.
Under its next Police Chief, Frank Draper (1874), a lawyer and captain in Toronto’s Queen’s York Rangers Regiment,
the Toronto Police would later pride itself in their refinement of
infantry tactics for use in urban street fighting, where fewer
words of command were needed to deploy the constables:
The street skirmishing drill, prepared
specially also for the Toronto Police Force, is peculiarly a
Police drill. The expeditious movement of sections or small
detachments in close or extended order from point to point with
the fewest possible words of command is the object sought to
be attained. A section or any portion of a company can be
extended or moved to cover a given point almost instantaneously
on a single word of command, and as readily reformed, without
any regard to the position occupied by the front or rear
ranks. All movements are executed on the double, and have been
studied out with a view to a more speedy and effectual
suppression or riots and street disturbances.[26]
At least on two occasions the Toronto police were used as a military expeditionary force. In February 1883
when there was a threat to dynamite the Parliament Buildings in
Ottawa, the Toronto Police secured Parliament Square and Government
House until May. Two years later in October 1884,
the Toronto Police traveled by rail to fight illicit liquor gangs
who seized the railway line at Michipocoten on the north shore of
Lake Superior. [27]
Nonetheless, despite the constant drilling, Toronto Police never
came to use the massive firepower it had available to deploy.
Probably the seminal event in Toronto’s Police history, both for
its reservation in using mass force and for its relationship to the
Irish Catholic populace, is the Procession Rioting of 1875.
As it was noted above, the newly reformed Toronto Police remained
predominantly Irish Protestant. The issue of the Orange Order
membership in the Police was not immediately resolved. The Police
Commissioners originally ruled in 1859 that no member of a secret
society might join the force. Pressured publicly by the Orange Order,
City Council attempted to overturn the ruling but failed by one
vote.[28]
The next year when the Tories returned to dominate City Council the
vote was taken again and passed, but the Board of Police
Commissioners insisted that City Council had no authority to rescind
the Board’s regulations, and the order stood and was formally
incorporated into the Toronto Police Regulations.[29] Orange Order Parade proceeding east on King Street (circa 1870)
This photo can be dated by the absence of the spire on St. James Cathedral
visible in the distance. The spire would not be added until 1875, while the camera’s ability to
freeze motion in a short exposure time dates the photo to no earlier than the late 1860s.
While the Irish Catholic population was already singled out as a
threat within the city by virtue of their home history, poverty,
ethnicity, and unskilled labour status, the Fenian Raids and D’Arcy
McGee’s assassination in Ottawa, further cast aspersions on the
Irish Catholics and positioned them as targets of police
attention. The mostly Protestant Toronto constables were often
accused of acting with prejudicial hostility towards Irish
Catholics. But in 1875 during huge Catholic
processions in Toronto which came under attack by armed Orange
mobs, the Toronto Police distinguished themselves not only in their
defense of the Catholics, but also for the coolness in the face of
the mobs. Despite numerous handgun shots and thrown rocks, the
police did not return fire and several constables sustained
injuries protecting the Catholic procession.[30]
The archdioceses conducted a large cash collection on behalf of the
constables in gratitude, and the issue of systemic Toronto Police
hostility towards Irish Catholics was put to rest that year.[31]
When in 1878, American Fenian O’Donovan Rossa visited Toronto to
speak at St. Patrick’s Hall, Toronto Police efficiently and coolly
protected him from angry Orange mobs.[32]
In the future, the potential military might of the Toronto Police was
increasingly directed towards threats from labour unions, as it was
against workers during the Street Railway Company Strike in 1886.
While Orange vs. Green clashes in the streets diminished, the
Toronto Police were still not about to be deployed as the proactive
anti-crime force we associate with municipal policing today. http://www.russianbooks.org/crime/cph5.htm
Released
today by the Alphabet-owned Sidewalk Labs, OldTO maps more than 30,000
historic photographs from the City of Toronto Archives onto our
current street network.
Right now, clicking on a photo will show any information
contained in the description of the archival holding, such as the date,
title, condition and copyright restrictions. 
Here's a "coal & coke" shop near Woodbine Avenue and Gerard Street East in 1938.
And here are the (seemingly reluctant) first place winners of the "Danforth Baby Show" near Pape and Cosburn in August of 1930.
The
City’s committee on the Circus Riot had recommended in 1855 that
the London Police be approached for a candidate from that force to
take charge in Toronto. But when it came to hire a Chief for
the new force in 1859, Toronto instead chose a military officer and not an experience police officer from the London Police. The new Police Chief was William Stratton Prince, a former Captain of the 71st Highland Light Infantry.
There is a remarkable paucity of biographical detail on Prince and
detail on how his candidacy and appointment unfolded. His
regimental history, however, hints at the qualifications that
Prince brought to the job.
Along
with their desirable character traits, Toronto’s constables were
assigned a social class category. The Toronto police officer,
in the estimation of Chief William Prince:
The
City’s committee on the Circus Riot had recommended in 1855 that
the London Police be approached for a candidate from that force to
take charge in Toronto. But when it came to hire a Chief for
the new force in 1859, Toronto instead chose a military officer and not an experience police officer from the London Police. The new Police Chief was William Stratton Prince, a former Captain of the 71st Highland Light Infantry.
There is a remarkable paucity of biographical detail on Prince and
detail on how his candidacy and appointment unfolded. His
regimental history, however, hints at the qualifications that
Prince brought to the job.
Along
with their desirable character traits, Toronto’s constables were
assigned a social class category. The Toronto police officer,
in the estimation of Chief William Prince: