Toronto SunShine Girls 2018 Archive

see all the sunshine girls that appeared in the Toronto Sun in 2018

 
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Cone of silence surrounds Danforth shooting in Toronto

It was one investigation Toronto police chief Mark Saunders seemed unwilling to address Thursday.

In fact, for the most part the whole mass tragedy appears to be shrouded under a cone of silence.

Asked whether his force is any closer to understanding what may have motivated the man who killed two females and wounded 13 in a horrific mass shooting on the Danforth in July, at first Saunders completely ignored the question, indicating their frontline officers were on scene in three minutes and 30 seconds.

Then he claimed he doesn’t want to “get into the minutiae (of the investigation) right now” — that there are still “some more things” that need to be looked at before they come to any conclusions.



Faisal Hussain, 29, turned his gun on himself after the rampage, which occurred while citizens were enjoying coffee, a meal or a drink at outdoor cafes along the popular Greektown corridor on a hot Sunday night.

As the Sun’s Anthony Furey revealed in the days following the shooting, a Muslim activist who has apparently committed himself to “framing a new narrative of Muslims in Canada” issued a statement on behalf of the Hussain family shortly after the shooting — indicating the young man had “severe mental health challenges.”

In September, unsealed police documents showed that officers seized the shooter’s electronic devices searching for “any plans for the offences, contacts, substances that could be used to build bombs or any literature or documents depicting hate, extremism, terrorism or a similar belief or following.”

The police documents also indicate that Faisal’s only companions appeared to be his parents — and that in the hours before the shooting, his fraternal twin brother pleaded with him “to get his life together.”

No details were contained in the documents as to what the searches found.

Asked whether the media and the public will ever get an account of what was behind the shooting, Saunders responded:  “I’m sure there will be an opportunity to present whatever we can to the public but it’s not going to be today.”
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What is taking so long with Toronto Danforth mass shooting investigation?

It has now been 172 days, or more than five months, since Faisal Hussain took his lethal walk along the Danforth on a Toronto summer’s evening.

By the time his rampage ended, two fine young people, 10-year-old Julianna Kozis and 18-year-old Reese Fallon, were dead, and 13 others were injured, some seriously. Hussain himself was also dead, it appears by his own hand, according to Toronto Police documents that were unsealed by court order in September.

Those documents provided the only hard information about the mass shooting or the shooter — or at least about what the Toronto Police were seeking to search in Hussain’s apartment — that has been released to the public to date.

Because the province’s Special Investigations Unit took the lead on the investigation — there were reports that two Toronto officers had exchanged gunfire with Hussain before he allegedly took his own life, and the SIU’s mandate is to probe any lethal or serious interaction with police — the Toronto force is seriously hamstrung about what it can say about the shooting.

Thus even this week, when Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders held a year-end press conference, Saunders deflected questions on the Danforth shooting.

The last time the SIU issued a press release about the incident was July 23, the day after the shooting, when it formally identified Hussain.

Since then, there has been only silence.

In September, a Post source suggested the delay was at the Centre for Forensic Sciences, where the SIU sends evidence for processing, including firearms from police who may have been identified as what the SIU calls “subject officers,” meaning those who were believed to have fired their weapons.

In simple terms, most guns and rifles leave unique “rifling” marks on the bullets they fire, caused by grooves in the barrel of the weapon. These can link fired projectiles to particular guns.

Indeed, according to SIU spokeswoman Monica Hudon, the SIU did early on identify two officers as “subject” officers, but “based on findings,” they were quickly re-designated as “witness officers.”

Neither SIU director Tony Loparco, nor his occasional stand-in, Joe Martino, replied to infrequent Post emails over the summer, asking what on earth was taking so long. Similarly, Loparco didn’t answer one Friday.

At the Centre for Forensic Sciences, meantime, deputy director Jonathan Newman told the Post in an email that he had “reviewed our files and nothing remains outstanding,” and that further questions should be directed to the SIU.

However, Newman didn’t reply to a second note, asking when the CFS had completed its work and sent the results to the SIU.

Another SIU spokeswoman, Jasbir Dhillon, told the Post Friday that the file is now “in the director’s office for his review.”

Asked if that meant the investigation was closed, Dhillon said it was ongoing until Loparco completes his review and makes a determination.

Dhillon also confirmed what Hudon said in September — that there are nine Toronto officers designated as witnesses and none as “subject officers,” or shooters.

Whether that means there was never an exchange of gunfire between police and Hussain is anyone’s guess. Is that what the firearms section at the CFS found — that none of the bullets which may have hit Hussain came from police weapons?

Similarly, there’s no way of knowing why the investigation has taken so long. The Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination of U.S. president John Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, took about a year, or about twice as long as this one, to conclude and issue its report.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and in the one surrounding the Danforth shooting, there have been rumours galore (the unsealed police search warrant showed police were looking for links to extremism) as well as his family statement, released the day afterwards, suggesting Hussain had struggled with “psychosis and depression his entire life” and that they “did our best to seek help for him.”

Let’s see: A 29-year-old man armed with a gun walks along a street crowded with café-goers and ice cream-eaters; he fires at some people and spares others; he kills two of the youngest of the innocent; he ends up dead.

One wouldn’t imagine this was a great mystery requiring months and months of investigation cloaked in secrecy.

The only thing that is crystal clear in this mess is that the SIU has some ‘splaining to do, and so does the Centre for Forensic Sciences. Did someone drop the ball, and if so, which organization and why? And if not, then for the love of God, say so, and give the public some real information.

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2 injured in Church Street nightclub assault

Two people were injured, one of them seriously, after an assault at a nightclub on Church Street.

Police responded to a call for an assault in the Church and Maitland streets area around 12:30 a.m. Saturday

Officers found two victims who had been struck with an object. One of them was bleeding and unconscious.

He was taken to hospital with serious injuries but is expected to recover.

Police say they are looking for two suspects, both black males.

An investigation is ongoing.

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Man injured as gunfire erupts on Queen West

A man is in hospital with minor injuries after a shooting in the city’s west end early Saturday.

Toronto Police were called to the area of Queen St. W. and Ossington Ave. around 3 a.m. for the sounds of gun fire.

Once on scene they found evidence of shell casings in the area.

“Later a man walked into a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and he was the victim in the shooting,” Const. David Hopkinson said Saturday.

After the shooting, a white SUV was seen fleeing the area.

Police continue to investigate.

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Teen boy and woman injured in separate stabbings in Toronto

A teenaged boy was stabbed near Victoria Park subway station Friday evening.

Toronto Police say he was on a path leading to the station when attacked at about 8:30 p.m.. The boy was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

“It sounds like an attack, whether it was random or targeted,”  Const. David Hopkinson said Saturday.

The assailant is believed to have fled on foot.

The investigation is ongoing.

In another incident of violence, a woman was stabbed around 7:30 a.m. Saturday on Oxford Dr. — near Jane St. and Weston Rd.

Her injuries are not considered life-threatening.

Police searched the area and a man was taken into custody.

“The suspect was known, so it was open and shut,” Hopkinson said. “I can’t go into the relationship because that would identify the victim.”

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LCBO thefts surge in Toronto, staff stand and watch

Two menacing thieves, four oversized backpacks — and zero worries, evidently, that this will end badly for them. This is what liquor theft in Toronto looks like today.

On a recent Saturday afternoon at a busy east-end LCBO, a brazen, broad-daylight heist begins. Two twentysomething men, faces shrouded beneath hoodies, hats and sunglasses, push their way through a crowd of customers to an aisle of premium vodka and proceed to strip the shelves bare.

Clink, clink, clink go the bottles as the loot bags swell. And then, smash — a $75 bottle of Grey Goose slips sideways and shatters upon the floor in their frenzy to get the job done. One of the bandits shouts a warning, “Stay the f- away from us.” The pilfering continues.

The customers — some 40 eyewitnesses, are frozen in place, stunned by the close-up glimpse of high-volume larceny.

The staff — three on the checkouts, two more elsewhere in the store — are the only ones not watching. They’ve seen it before. Over and over. Now they avert their morale-battered eyes.

Tension rises as the thieves stumble toward the exit, each burdened by something close to their body weight in the people’s booze. So heavy is the bounty that as they pass within arm’s reach, even a slight nudge might send them tumbling, putting a stop to it. But then what? Already, the floor is littered with broken glass. Every single item in this store is a potential weapon for someone who wants badly enough not to get caught.

Nobody makes a move.

It all lasts barely three minutes. Outside, a stunned group of volunteer fundraisers with the nearby Crescent Town Swimming Club witnesses the final scene, as the bandits make their slow-motion escape west along the Danforth, toward Victoria Park Ave.

“They aren’t even running,” says one of the swim volunteers. “They’re literally just walking away.” The loot — at least $2,000 worth of premium liquor in this one instance — came straight out of your pocket, Ontario.

Inside the store, as the tension eases and business resumes, a clerk winces when asked whether he’d ever seen anything like it. “Every single day,” he fires back in frustration. “Sometimes twice a day.”

Is it really as frequent as that? The Star went looking for answers, and in a word, yes.

The sobering numbers look like this: more than 9,000 thefts at LCBO outlets in Toronto in the past four-and-a-half years (Jan. 1, 2014 to June 26, 2018), according to a crunching of Toronto Police Service data.

That makes the Liquor Control Board of Ontario far and away the most targeted retail entity in the city. And though retailers as a whole have reported a major spike in shoplifting incidents in the city — 11,010 thefts in 2014, versus 16,667 in the first 10 months of 2018 — the spike in liquor theft appears to be the single biggest driver.

The LCBO declined a request for an interview on the findings. Instead, the provincially owned liquor retailer responded in writing to a summary of the troubling data, acknowledging, “We can confirm that the LCBO is seeing an increase in shop theft, with the majority taking place in urban areas.”

No single explanation unpacks the whole of the LCBO’s theft problem. And it is far from a Toronto-only phenomenon. Twitter is littered and Facebook is festooned with both Crime Stopper-style alerts from police and customer eyewitness accounts that reference thefts throughout Ontario.

But LCBO theft stings especially deep in Toronto, where some suggest overlapping policies — the LCBO’s “hands-off” instruction to staff never to intervene with thieves while they are in the building, coupled with the Toronto Police Service’s policy to rarely, if ever, dispatch officers to a low-priority theft scene after the thieves have left — has opened a pathway to friction-free larceny.

“The LCBO doesn’t want their staff getting into tussles with thieves inside the store, and I understand that,” said Mike McCormack, president of the Toronto Police Association.

“But when you couple that with a policing decision that says we just don’t have the resources to respond unless the thief is on the scene, you lose a lot of the deterrent.

“That’s where we are right now and it’s rampant, like a butterfly effect of unintended consequences. I’m hearing from LCBO people directly that they’ve seen guys come in and fill up duffle bags and walk right out the door and when they call 911, if these guys are not on the scene nobody is going to respond.”

What do actual LCBO workers say? One clue arrived recently, a typewritten, snail-mailed, anonymous plea for help purporting to be from a frontline liquor store staffer.

“What the public doesn’t know is the amount of theft that goes on and how our lives are in jeopardy because of it. Every day we lose thousands of dollars to theft and we can’t do anything about it,” the letter said.

“We have been threatened with knives, needles, guns, physical harm, we’ve been shoved into fixtures, our lives threatened to where they will wait for us after shift, and yet the public doesn’t know as it’s kept quiet from the media.

“We are all fearful that something will happen to one of us and it’s scary. THE LCBO DOESN’T CARE. They barely support us and we barely see security once a month if we are lucky enough to have them in our store for a full shift.”

There is no way to independently authenticate the letter, which ended with “name withheld due to fear of retaliation.” But upon hearing its message, OPSEU president Warren (Smokey) Thomas, who represents LCBO’s unionized staff, responded: “That really disturbs me — but that is the mood of the workers and it captures it very well.

“I think most of the managers do care — but they feel as hamstrung as the front-line workers feel. They are telling us that theft has increased substantially in the past year especially. Verbal abuse is common, and while violence itself is rare, the threat of violence is there.”

OPSEU followed up with additional comment, noting that meetings between the union and LCBO to address surging theft are occurring “at various levels.

“We continue to advocate for greater security measures and do see improved measures of which our staff have been able to suggest,” OPSEU wrote. “Unfortunately, it seems the act of shoplifting has turned into a larger-scale enterprise as thieves are stealing higher-end products and larger bottles.”

Likewise, in response to a list of questions , an LCBO spokesperson sent a statement citing a series of measures it has taken to curb theft while maintaining a safety-first posture.

“Safe stores and the safety of our employees are our top priorities and the policies and procedures we have in place reflect that. The LCBO has taken appropriate steps to prevent shop theft through security investments and theft protection tactics. We have increased our guarding and investigator expenditures, as well as CCTV technology, in-store deterrents, and always collaborate with local police on active investigations,” the statement said.

“As is industry standard, we never encourage our employees to physically engage with the perpetrator when an active shop theft is taking place. Instead, the LCBO ensures employees are given shop-theft procedures and critical training.”

Stephen O’Keefe, an Ontario-based retail loss consultant, said that the LCBO is not alone in experiencing a theft surge. Companies across the Canadian retail spectrum, he said, are reporting rising rates of “shrinkage.”

Yet with no new studies of the issue since 2014, Canadian retailers have relied upon U.S. data to get a handle on the increase. O’Keefe’s company, Bottom Line Matters, is in the process of launching new research to gain a more comprehensive understanding of what’s behind the spike.

One factor, he suspects, is that with Canadian retailers now in a race to allocate resources to digital commerce, many companies simply can’t afford to obsess on the bricks-and-mortar reality with the intensity they once did. “This, unfortunately, means that the risk appetite for shrinkage due to theft has grown, and loss-prevention resources have been strained,” he said.

The spike in liquor theft, if especially acute in Toronto, has also triggered a rash of headlines recently in Manitoba, where officials cite the opioid crisis as a factor driving increasingly brazen, violent and frequent heists. One stopgap solution being tried in Winnipeg that has yet to take hold in Ontario is the outright removal of premium liquors from display shelves.

Instead, expensive vodkas and the like are kept in a more secure space out of public view, and retrieved upon request to customers one bottle at a time, in a bid to strip the “lowest-hanging fruit” from temptation, a spokesperson for the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union said.

In April 2018, Toronto police sent a letter to the security sections of the LCBO, said police spokesperson Meaghan Gray. The letter indicated that unless there is a public safety risk, certain crimes could now be reported online.

“Calls that require an immediate police presence would still be responded to,” Grey said. “The online reporting allows the security personnel at the LCBO to enter the information for investigation by TPS. This is one of many initiatives the Service is undertaking through its modernization process of ensuring we are where the public needs us the most.”

At least one Toronto police jurisdiction, meanwhile, is trying something else. The Community Response Unit at 14 Division, in response to a rash of public complaints, last month launched a multifaceted pilot project that includes circulating plainclothes officers at several LCBOs in the area.

“I can’t speak to all of Toronto, but in our patch we’re trying hard to find a new way to deal with the LCBO theft problem,” said Sgt. Nelson Barreira, who is leading the effort.

“I don’t want to give too much detail but we’re raising our presence. We’re averaging about one arrest a day involving LCBO theft. Basically we’re seeing two types of theft — on one hand you see brazen repeat offenders coming in pretty much daily and taking a single bottle and those cases usually involve addiction issues, either alcohol or drugs and sometimes mental health issues,” said Barreira.

“And then we see the big-bag approach — large quantities are being taken and resold at a discount. Our team is predominantly on bicycle but we mobilize a police car for this project to transport suspects. The approach is intelligence-led policing, acting on what the community shares with us as smartly as we can.”

On Dec. 19, Barreira’s team led a bust of two people involved in an alleged 12-person shoplifting ring that targeted Toronto LCBOs. Police estimate the value of goods stolen by the group at over $200,000.

One point of agreement for the LCBO and everyone else: whatever else you might say about liquor theft, the cameras never lie. In the store on the Danforth the day there was a four-backpack heist, 13 ceiling-mounted cameras caught it all.

Sgt. Barreira of 14 Division emphasizes those high-quality images “never blink and they are there forever — and once retrieved, the LCBO screenshots circulate to every officer in the division, often forming the basis for future arrests.

“In the short term they get away with the bottle,” he said. “But in the longer term, because every theft is captured on video, the chances are good they are not gonna get away with it.”
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17-year-old Toronto boy faces 5 charges after Jane and Finch shootout

Police have charged a 17-year-old Toronto boy following a shootout that happened in the Jane and Finch area on Thursday morning.

Police allege a 17-year-old boy was walking near Driftwood Avenue just before 10 a.m. when a male got out of a car and started shooting at him.

The 17-year-old boy shot back and the male in the car left.

The 17-year-old was struck and has non-life threatening injuries.

Police found the loaded gun, a Bersa S.A. .380 handgun.

The boy is underage so he can’t be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The charges are discharge firearm with intent to endanger life, possess loaded firearm, possess prohibited firearm not holding a licence, possess firearm obtained by crime and possess weapon dangerous to public peace.

Police said on Thursday that they were looking for a red suspect vehicle, possibly a Honda Civic. Witnesses said they saw the car going north on Jane after the shooting.
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Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders weighs in on the major policing events of the year

To call the past year in Toronto normal would be misleading.
That was the message from Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders Thursday in a wide-ranging year-end news conference that touched on a record homicide rate, two mass casualty incidents in the city and the arrest of an alleged serial killer, among other things.

“We had two mass casualty incidents. There’s a lot to be said for that. On top of that we’ve arrested somebody, allegedly a serial killer. You factor all of these things, and for me to say that this is a normal year, I’d be misleading you,” Saunders said. “This was a unique year. I’m certainly not looking for another year like that in the foreseeable future. 1991 was when we had 89 homicides. It took a long time to surpass that and I’m not looking at an upward trend.”

Top of mind for many people in the city this year is a record homicide rate, with 95 people having been murdered. While 10 of those deaths are attributable to a deadly van attack on Yonge Street in April, many have said more must be done to curb the violence.

Speaking with reporters, Saunders maintained that Toronto is still one of the safest cities in North America and that while police are always trying to keep up with best practices for crime prevention, some level of violence in a major urban centre is to be expected.

He said that dealing with street gangs is a “team sport” where members of a gang intimidate and threaten anyone who acts as a witness to a crime that another member of the gang has committed, making it more difficult for police to arrest violent criminals.

Saunders said the neighbourhood officer program has played a key role in building trust within neighbourhoods so that people better cooperate with the police.

“Getting intelligence in order to deal with local issues is the way we need to go forward in order to deal with this,” Saunders said. “I can tell you that there was a tremendous amount of work put into the relationship-building with all the segments of all the communities right across the city. You’ll see more of that in 2019 too. It’s absolutely necessary if we’re going to get it right.”

On that point, Saunders was also asked whether he has regrets about giving “false hope” to the LGBTQ community when he stood at a similar news conference a year ago – just weeks before the arrest of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur – and declared that there was no serial killer targeting the gay community.

While he acknowledged that there were “lessons learned,” Saunders insisted that the force took seriously the disappearances of several men, disappearances that had led to years of speculation within the LGBTQ community that a killer was targeting them.

“I would say that there are a lot of lessons learned,” Saunders said. “The Toronto Police Service, we knew that something stunk, which is why we put resources in long before the apprehension of Bruce McArthur. In fact not only did we put resources in and do countless judicial authorizations, we put in high-level resources – we put in homicide investigators – long before a crime was determined.”

Still, Saunders acknowledged that there is more work to do to build bridges with the LGBTQ community.

“I think we have moved forward and I think we’re moving in the right direction,” he said. “I’m not going to say that we’re where we need to be. What I like about this organization is the desire to want to get it right.

“When we talk about the modernization plan, we talk about it being community-centric, and when we talk about community, that means everybody. So in order to get that right, it’s the ability to sit down at the table and having those conversations with all segments of the city to figure out what we need to do to enhance our relationships.”

In a tumultuous year, Saunders described the close proximity of the van attack and the Danforth shooting as his low point.

“When we had two mass casualty incidents in such a short period of time, I think that was a game changer,” Saunders said. “I think that many members of the community had some grave concerns. It’s one thing when you’re dealing with the gun play, it’s another when you’re walking down the street and looking over your shoulder or you’re sitting at a restaurant with family and friends and the next thing you have this.”

“When you had two of them back-to-back, the public had some concerns and still has some concerns about ‘is the city safe?’”

Saunders said the statistics indicate that Toronto is still one of the safest cities in North America and the majority of those who die in gun violence are engaged in a “high-risk lifestyle.” However he acknowledged that the violence this past year has shaken Torontonians’ perception of the city they live in.

“The general public really felt stung by back-to-back mass casualties and it’s still there, so that was something I had great concern with and I still have concern with that,” he said.

While Saunders said that crime has increased according to most major indicators, there were still bright spots in policing throughout the year.

“Throughout the year, despite everything that happened, our members have truly done outstanding things,” Saunders said. “They’ve rescued people from drowning in an elevator, they prevented suicides, they’ve rescued people and pets from freezing water, they’ve brought shoes to homeless people.

“They’ve supported families by purchasing groceries. They’ve walked into gun fights, knife fights, saved lives and continued to arrest when necessary.”
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Toronto teen found with serious gunshot wounds in Jane and Driftwood area

A male teenager has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after being shot in the Black Creek area Thursday morning.

Shots rang out near Driftwood Court and Driftwood Avenue at around 9:55 a.m.

Toronto police said they received a call saying a male victim had been shot and was lying on Driftwood Court.

Paramedics arrived and took the teen to a trauma centre in serious condition.

Police said they are looking for a red vehicle, possibly a Honda Civic, that was last seen going northbound on Jane Street.

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Toronto Police investigate a stabbing in the area of Richmond Street and Spadina Avenue Thursday December 27, 2018

A man was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being stabbed in a fight in the city’s Entertainment District overnight.

It happened on Richmond Street, near Spadina Avenue, at around 1:50 a.m. 

Toronto police said they found two injured males, one of them with stab wounds, after responding to a fight involving a group of men.

One male was transported to hospital with serious injuries, Toronto Paramedic Services said.

Police said a group of males was seen leaving the area in a car.
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Cimran Farah, 20 is Toronto's 96th homicide victim of 2018

A 20-year-old man has succumbed to his injuries one week after being shot in North Etobicoke.

Emergency crews were called to a plaza in the area of Kipling Avenue and Rowntree Road at around 9 p.m. for reports of a shooting on Dec. 21.

Upon arrival at the scene, police said they located three males suffering from gunshot wounds. Two of them, ages 19 and 20, were found inside a vehicle, while a 51-year-old man was also struck in the parking lot of the plaza. All three victims were taken from the scene to a hospital via emergency run to be treated for their injuries.

On Thursday, the 20-year-old man – identified by officers as Cimran Farah, of Toronto – succumbed to his injuries.

Farah is the city’s 96th homicide victim of 2018.

No information on any possible suspects has been released in connection with this case.

Police said they are asking anyone with further information regarding this deadly incident to contact investigators at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-877-TIPS (8477).
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Woman hijacks TTC bus, driver crashes into back of police cruiser

A TTC bus driver has been left “shaken” after a woman allegedly hijacked his bus near Eglinton station.

Toronto police say the driver activated the emergency alarm aboard the bus around 11:30 p.m. Sunday.

Officers responded, just east of the subway station, and attempted to stop it. The bus subsequently crashed into the back of a police cruiser.

Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook tells CityNews an investigation has revealed that a woman entered the bus shortly before Eglinton station and indicated that she had a weapon. She allegedly instructed the driver to drive in a particular direction.

Once police arrived, she allegedly instructed the driver not to stop. In response, the bus driver drove towards the back of the police car, striking it.

The woman was subsequently arrested.

One of the officers suffered minor injuries of whiplash as a result of the crash.

There were no other occupants on the bus. The driver was shaken up but was uninjured.

No weapon was found on the suspect.

The 36-year-old woman is facing charges of kidnapping and assault with a weapon.
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Body found believed to be Stella Wong who went missing during hike in Leaside

Police believe a female body found on Monday is that of a woman who disappeared during a hike in Leaside on Sunday night.

Stella Wong, 45, was on a walk with a male companion around 7 p.m. on the hiking trail in Crothers Woods, near Laird Drive and Eglinton Avenue East, when the two were separated and she went missing. Police say the companion almost immediately called police for help.

Police have not confirmed the identity of the body but it was found in the area of the trail.

Police won’t say why they were separated or how the two knew each other.

There is no evidence of foul play at this time and there are no signs of trauma to the body.

Police are not looking for suspects.

The area is under investigation by police until the cause of the death is determined.
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Christmas eve in Toronto rocked with early-morning shootings

The snow had just started to fall Christmas Eve day when bullets started flying.

At 3:49 a.m. Toronto Police were called to Yorkminster Rd. and Aldershot Cres.  south of Hwy. 401 for a shooting.

There they found a man in his mid-20s suffering from bullet wounds. He was taken to hospital in serious condition.

The next one occurred more 90 minutes later at Bergamot Ave. at Elms Park Tr., in the Islington Ave.-Hwy. 401 area. A man in his 20s was taken to hospital in serious condition.

“Major crime has taken over the cases to determine if they are related,” said Const. Caroline de Kloet. “If you have information on these shootings you can call the divisions or also Crime Stoppers.”
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Inzaghi Regis, 20 of toronto, arrested for multiple sexual assaults near York University

Toronto police have arrested a 20-year-old man after five violent sexual assaults over the last two months near York University, most recently twice last Thursday.

Inzaghi Regis was arrested last Friday following a police press conference that included the release of a composite sketch and video.

Scheduled to make his first court appearance on Friday, he faces a number of charges including sexual assault with a weapon, robbery, assault and threatening death.

“I wanted to thank the media for their patience in reporting the story and survivors for their bravery,” said Sex Crimes Inspector Domenic Sinopoli in a statement.

“I also want to thank our officers, including Sex Crimes investigators and 31 Division as well as other supports units, for their tireless work on this investigation.”

In the initial press conference, Sinopoli referred to the attacker as “a predator” whose escalating violent behavior had police concerned. It was believed the attacker first struck on Oct. 24.

Investigators believe there may be other victims and are urging anyone who knows Regis or may have had contact with him to contact the TPS Sex Crimes Unit at 416-808-7474.
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Three seriously injured near Kipling and Rowntree in Etobicoke triple-shooting

Three people have been rushed to hospital after a triple-shooting in the city’s north end.

Emergency crews were called just after 9 p.m. Friday night to a strip mall on Kipling Ave. at Rowntree Rd. — between Steeles and Finch — after shots rang out.

Once there, emergency crews found three victims suffering gunshot wounds in the parking lot, one without vital signs.

Police taped off a car in the plaza’s parking lot, riddled with numerous bullet holes and surrounded by shards of broken glass.

The victims were rushed to Sunnybrook via an emergency run.

Toronto Paramedic Services tells the Sun two of the victims were transported in serious condition, one with life-threatening injuries.

The plaza where the shooting took place is just blocks away from Toronto police’s 23 divisions station at Finch and Kipling.

The triple shooting was just one of numerous violent incidents that occurred over an eight-hour span:

– One person was injured in a stabbing in Scarborough, near Victoria Park Ave. and Lawrence Ave. E., late Friday.

– Two people were hurt in a stabbing downtown, near Wellesley St. E. and Bleecker St., early Saturday.

– One person was injured in a stabbing in North York, near Jane St. and Firgrove Cr., early Saturday.

– One person was injured when a car was shot up in Lawrence Heights, near Lawrence Ave. W. and Dufferin St., early Saturday.

This latest violence comes just days after a rash of shootings in the city – eight in approximately 36 hours – two resulting in the city’s 94th and 95th homicides of 2018.
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Man arrested for series of sex attacks near York University in Toronto

The hunt for a violent serial sexual predator who has been terrorizing women near York University has now led to an arrest.

Toronto Police Insp. Domenic Sinopoli released a composite sketch and video of a suspect at a news conference Friday, explaining the same man was sought for at least five sexual assaults and one robbery.

The attacker most recently struck twice on Thursday.

“We’re very concerned about the escalating nature of these occurrences,” Sinopoli said, encouraging women to be vigilant.

“He is absolutely getting more violent.”

He said detectives concluded the attacker was the same man based on location, time of the attacks and victimology.

Sinopoli would not elaborate on race, hair colour or age of the victims.

Calling the attacker a “predator,” he said it’s believed the man first struck on Oct. 24.

Here are the incidents:

— On Dec. 20, around 9:10 p.m., a 30-year-old woman was walking home from Finch West subway station when she was violently attacked near 23 Four Winds Dr. She was knocked unconscious, then sexually assaulted when she awoke.

— On Dec. 20, around 9:25 p.m., a 20-year-old woman was in the area of 31 Four Winds Dr. when she was followed by a man who had been loitering nearby. He approached her, threatened her with a knife and made a demand for her property. He stole the woman’s cell phone and sexually assaulted her.

— On Dec. 19, around 9:30 p.m., a 22-year-old woman was walking along a path on the north side of Finch Ave. W. into Fountainhead Park when she was grabbed from behind by a man who held a knife to her throat, sexually assaulted her, then took her phone and ear buds.

— On Dec. 10, a woman was using her phone while sitting on a park bench just east of the tennis courts at 455 Sentinel Rd. when a man approached and engaged her in conversation. He grabbed her and a short struggle ensued before he was able to take her purse.

— On Oct. 31, a 22-year-old woman was walking in the area of Cook and Sentinel Rds. when a man approached, grabbed her from behind and sexually assaulted her.

— On Oct. 24, a 20-year-old woman was walking home in the area of Murray Ross Pkwy. and Sentinel Rd. when she was grabbed from behind and sexually assaulted.

Police have since announced that a man was arrested hours after the news conference and charged with related offences.

“For investigative reasons, his name and information will not be released at this time,” Sinopoli said in a statement released Saturday. “The information will be released when appropriate.”

The statement also thanked the public for all of their assistance and encouraged citizens to “always remain vigilant and aware of their surroundings” and to report any suspicious occurrences to police.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is urged to call the Sex Crimes Unit at 416-808-7474 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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Edwin “Chris” Humberto Velasquez is Toronto's 95th Homicide Victim, shot near King and Spadina

Toronto Police have identified the city’s 95th homicide victim of the year.

Edwin “Chris” Humberto Velasquez was walking with a group of people on King St. W., west of Spadina Ave., around 12:10 a.m. Wednesday when the shooter approached him and fired multiple times.

The 34-year-old died in hospital.

A woman who was hanging out with the group of friends — but who police say didn’t know Velasquez — was shot in the leg, Det. Keri Fernandes said Thursday. Her injuries are not life-threatening.

Police say the shooter fled westbound on King St. W. in a blue Mazda. They have released security camera images of the vehicle with the licence plate ATVP 407, but say the plate is not associated to that Mazda.

Anyone with information is asked to call the homicide squad at 416-808-7400, or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS.
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Eaton Centre Shooting in Toronto on Saturday, June 2, 2012

Christopher Husbands thought he was going to die.

The accused Eaton Centre killer wears a royal blue suit, white shirt and tie as he sits in the witness box and calmly recounts the harrowing attack he suffered a few months before he opened fire in the crowded food court and killed two men.

The Crown contends the shooting was cold-blooded payback for the ambush that left him with 20 stab wounds, his own brand of “street justice” brazenly executed in the middle of a busy mall.

Husbands, 29, has admitted fatally shooting Nixon Nirmalendran, 22, and Ahmed Hassan, 25, and wounding five others in the wild spray of bullets on June 2, 2012, but says he’s not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.

His lawyers insist he was suffering from PTSD following the terrifying incident and snapped when he spotted some of his attackers.

Now was his chance to convince the jury that after a childhood of trauma, their vicious attack left him mentally shattered.

Led by questions from lawyer Dirk Derstine, Husbands first described growing up in Guyana with a crack-addicted mom who’d abandon him and his three siblings for up to a month at a time.

Eventually his father sent for them and at 11, he arrived in Regent Park.

“I had a pretty rough time,” he recalled. “I was lost.”

His dad worked nights and was often absent and resentful. He witnessed racism for the first time and saw a man killed before his eyes at 13.

Is it surprising that he fell into the life? Husbands sold crack — but also worked for the city at an after-school program.

He got expelled from high school — but managed to get into a college program.

He had ambitions.

“I really wanted to make something of my life.”

On Feb. 28, 2012, he was heading to a Gerrard St. apartment. A former lover — and mother of one of his friends — had promised a gift for his 23rd birthday. He was also going to meet childhood friend Nixon Nirmalendran who’d asked to borrow money.

Nirmalendran had recently assured him there was no truth to rumours he was angry with him.

So Husbands had no idea he was walking into an ambush.

“I felt a hand grab me. I felt something hit me at the right side of my head,” he told the jury with little emotion.

The masked men called him a snake and told him he’d disrespected them. “None of which made any sense to me.”

They punched and kicked him. They duct taped his feet and arms and tried to tape his face as well. “I was panicking. I was obviously afraid.”

One of them put a .45 calibre gun to his head and said, “Four-five to the dome” before pistol whipping him on the side of his mouth, cracking his tooth.

He was carried to the bathroom where they’d filled the bathtub. “I was thinking, ‘Holy sh-t.’ I was panicking. They were trying to drown me.”

He managed to break free only to be caught and thrown down on his stomach in a bedroom.

“There was constant pounding on my back. I started twitching. It must have hit my spine. I felt like my body was convulsing.”

The photos show an apartment drenched in blood. He’d survive almost two dozen stab wounds.

Husbands refused to identify his attackers to police, but recognized Nirmalendran and his brother, his lover’s son as well as other acquaintances from the neighbourhood.

He began outlining his symptoms of PTSD.

“I was pretty depressed, I was having problems sleeping, nightmares, flashbacks. I was blaming myself. I wasn’t in the best emotional state.”

He wouldn’t sit on the couch because it was in the line of fire if someone shot through his door.

He put a penny-filled wine glass by the balcony so he’d get a warning if someone tried to break in. He had panic attacks in crowded places and was drinking daily to calm himself.

“I was afraid of leaving my house, I was paranoid,” he recalled. “I got a sword and started sleeping with it beside my bed.”

Husbands described recurring nightmares “of someone trying to stab me or shooting at me or chasing me down.”

And then came that June day when he spotted the crew that attacked him.

Husband’s testimony continues Thursday.
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Drive-by shooting reported outside elementary school near Jane and Finch in Toronto

Firgrove Public School near Jane and Finch was placed under lockdown Wednesday afternoon after reports of a drive-by shooting.

Toronto police say they received reports a male may have been shot out front as school was ending. No victim has been found at this point but police have located evidence of gunfire.

The lockdown has since been lifted and children were released from their classrooms.

The school is a junior kindergarten to grade five.

An eyewitness said he heard multiple shots as he was parked near the school and saw one dad cover his child when the shots rang out. The eyewitness added there were very few people around when it happened.

St. Francis de Sales School on Firgrove Crescent nearby was also in a hold and secure but it has been lifted.
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Toronto man dead, woman injured, shooting near King and Spadina

A double shooting in the Entertainment District shortly after midnight Wednesday resulted in the city’s 95th homicide victim of the year.

Toronto Police say the man was walking with a group of people on King St. W., west of Spadina Ave., around 12:10 a.m. when he was approached by the shooter.

The man was hit multiple times by bullets. He was taken to hospital, where he died.

A woman who was walking in the area was hit in the leg. Her injuries are not life-threatening.

The shooter fled in what police believe was a blue Mazda.

King was closed from Spadina to Portland for the investigation with TTC streetcars rerouting. The stretch reopened to traffic just before 8 a.m.

The ages and identities of the victims were not immediately released.

Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers.
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Toronto man wounded after shooting near Bathurst and St. Clair

Toronto police say a man has been taken to hospital after being shot in the city’s midtown.

Police said they received a call of a shooting around 10 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Bathurst Street and Vaughan Road.

Authorities said the victim was transported to hospital with gunshot wounds. His immediate condition is currently unknown.

Police said two suspects were seen fleeing the area after the shooting.
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Shooting in Black Creek leaves male victim with serious injuries

A daylight shooting in the city’s Black Creek neighbourhood has left a man believed to be in his 20s suffering from serious gunshot wounds.

The incident took place in the area of Driftwood and Finch avenues at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Investigators initially said they were investigating reports of a shooting and a collision nearby.

 One suspect has been taken into custody in connection with this investigation but officers said they are continuing to search for additional suspects. No descriptions have been released.

Roads have been blocked off in the area.
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Two people seriously injured in Rexdale stabbing

Two people have been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a double stabbing in Rexdale.

It happened in the area of Finch Avenue and Silverstone Drive.

Police said two people were found with multiple stab wounds and were taken to hospital.

The incident may have started as a robbery, police said.

Police said three suspects may have fled in a black car.
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Man in life-threatening condition, shooting near Eglinton at Keele

A man is in life-threatening condition due to a shooting near Eglinton at Keele Street and Ingram Drive that happened Tuesday around 7:50 p.m.

Police continue to investigate, but there is no word on any suspects at this time.

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Lawrence Errol Joel John, 28 shot and killed on San Romanoway near Jane and Finch in north Toronto

Toronto Police are searching for three suspects after a 28-year-old man was fatally shot inside a vehicle in North York early Tuesday morning.

The shooting occurred on San Romanoway, near Jane Street and Finch Avenue, shortly after 6 a.m.

Police on scene confirmed that three suspects approached a vehicle and opened fire on a man inside the car. A woman was also reportedly inside the vehicle at the time of the shooting but was not injured.

 Paramedics were called to the shooting but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police later identified the victim as Lawrence Errol Joel John of Toronto.

Detectives told CTV News Toronto that John came to Canada from St. Vincent and the Grenadines about one year ago.

Investigators have not provided detailed suspect descriptions but say the males were seen fleeing northbound.

Sgt. Norm Proctor told CP24 that the suspects may have left the area in a white hatchback but speaking to CP24 on Tuesday afternoon, Henkel said it is "too premature" to confirm details about the suspect vehicle.

This morning's shooting marks the 94th homicide in Toronto in 2018.
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Man with serious injuries, shooting near Jane and Finch

On Tuesday, a man suffered serious injuries in a shooting in the area of Driftwood Avenue and Niska Road, near Jane Street and Finch Avenue West at around 4:30 p.m.

Police said there were reports that a collision preceded the gunfire.

The victim was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

Police said one person is in custody, but they believe more suspects are outstanding. They are asking the public to avoid the area.

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Man with serious injuries, shooting at Bathurst and St. Clair

Earlier on Tuesday, police responded to reports of gunshots in the Bathurst Street and St. Clair Avenue West around 10 a.m.

A man was found in the area suffering from gunshot wounds.

He was rushed to hospital with serious injuries, but police say he’s expected to survive.

Police are looking for two men who ran from the scene. No suspect descriptions were provided.

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Former Toronto mayoral candidate Faith Goldy ordered to pay for failed lawsuit

Former Toronto mayoral candidate Faith Goldy has been ordered to pay more than $43,000 in the aftermath of her failed lawsuit against a Canadian media company.

Bell Media had refused to air campaign ads from the controversial far right activist on their local television news channel, saying they feared they’d be breaking the law by spreading hateful messages on the basis of race.

Goldy argued the broadcaster violated her constitutional right to express herself. However, the lawsuit was dismissed shortly after it was filed in October with a Superior Court judge saying jurisdiction fell exclusively under the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Goldy has built up an online following based on her controversial views that have been described as white supremacist in nature.

Goldy finished in third place behind John Tory and Jennifer Keesmaat, garnering just over 25,000 votes in the race for mayor.
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Antwoine Murray, 21 and Abdullah Waseem 19, arrested in connection with 7 bank robberies in Toronto

Police have arrested two men in connection with a series of bank robberies in Toronto within a three-week period.

According to police, between Nov. 15 and Nov. 16, a man, wearing a hood pulled over his head and black gloves, entered four separate bank branches in Toronto, waited in line, and presented the teller with a note demanding money. The note, police say, also indicated that the suspect had a gun and threatened to shoot the teller.

At each of the four branches, the suspect obtained money and fled the area.

On Dec. 3, police say the same man targeted three other bank branches in the city’s east end.

The man, according to investigators, made no attempt to disguise his identity when he made demands for money to the teller and indicated he was armed.

Police say during one of the robberies, the man pointed a firearm at two victims when he told them he wanted more money.

On Dec. 3, following a foot pursuit, police located the driver of the getaway vehicle and Antwoine Murray, 21, was arrested in connection with the robberies.

He has been charged with three counts of robbery while armed, two counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000, dangerous operation of a vehicle, flight from police, obstructing a police officer, and mischief under $5,000.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 20.

On Dec. 13, Toronto police, with the help of the Kingston Police Service, arrested 19-year-old Kingston resident Abdullah Waseem in connection with the case.

He is facing four counts of robbery, three counts of armed robbery, four counts of disguise with intent, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, two counts of pointing a firearm, possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000, failing to comply with probation, theft of a motor-vehicle, and theft over $5,000.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
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Toronto woman arrested after man critically stabbed near Lakeshore Blvd. and Brookers Lane

A man was stabbed during what police say was a domestic dispute in west Toronto Thursday morning.

“The injuries are very serious,” Const. David Hopkinson said.

Police were called just after 6 a.m. to a residential building in the area of Lakeshore Blvd. and Brookers Lane, east of Park Lawn Rd.

“A woman stabbed a man who was taken to hospital via emergency run,” Hopkinson alleged.

“A woman is in custody. I don’t want to say too much so we don’t identify the victim.”

No other information was available.
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Man shot in chest at downtown Toronto ICE condo at York St and Lakeshore Blvd, police say

Toronto police responded to a call at 2:58 a.m. Friday at York St. and Lakeshore Blvd., and found a man with a gunshot wound in a condo building.

In an internal email sent to building residents obtained by the Star, the building wrote that the shooting occurred on the 16th floor of 12 York St., one of the ICE condominiums.

The victim, who fell unconscious in the building lobby, was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries and is in stable condition, Toronto police Const. David Hopkinson said.

Following the shooting, two Black males were seen running away from the building. One was wearing a white plastic mask and dark pants, police said. While police don’t have a clear description of the suspects, Hopkinson said one was wearing a blue hoodie, the other a black hoodie.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Toronto police.

Nikki Hau, who’s been living in the building for three years, said she wasn’t surprised by a shooting there.

“When you have that many large numbers of different people circling through your unit all the time, something’s bound to happen,” Hau said.

She said there are minimal levels of security to supervise neverending flows of traffic. Two other people who rented Airbnb rooms at the ICE building spoke to the Star and said at certain points at night, they didn’t need their key fob to get inside.

In her three years of living inside the building, Hau said she’d seen many a wild party, but never once a security guard.

“It’s generally like a hotel,” said Hau when asked about how frequent the units are used for Airbnbs. “I would say on a Friday between 4 and 7 p.m. the lobby will be packed with people, essentially checking into their hotels.”

The day of the shooting, residents of the building were greeted to a notice on the wall that said the management office in the building would be closed the entire day.

Attempts to reach management by the Star were unsuccessful.

Sloane Oswald, a Carleton University graduate now living in Toronto, attested to this when she rented an Airbnb in the building.

“It was just kind of weird because there was absolutely no security. The building doors were unlocked. We didn’t even have to buzz into the building to get in,” said Oswald, who added that she didn’t even need the building key fob to get into her Airbnb.

Cameron Annear, another ICE condo resident, said the building was not unlike other condos he’s been in — with the exception of Airbnb renters frequently mistaking his apartment for theirs and trying to claim it as their own.

“The security guards are super nice, they can be really helpful when it comes to logistical stuff, but when it comes to physical security? Not so much,” said Annear.

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Personal Debt Levels in Toronto at All Time Highs

For every one dollar of disposable income, the average Toronto resident now owes $2.08 to the bank, mortgage lender, credit card company or wherever else they've been borrowing from (*cough* OSAP).

This, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, puts the debt-to-income ratio for those living in Toronto at a whopping 208 per cent—the highest recorded ratio in the city during the same time period since 2015.

The CMHC, a federal crown corporation which assists in affordable housing development, just released its quarterly national report on Mortgage and Consumer Credit Trends for the second quarter of 2018.

Overall, the picture isn't terrible, with a mortgages accounting for the lion's share of debt nation wide (though "growth in outstanding credit card balances" did accelerate to its highest level in seven years during Q2).

The rising debt-to-income ratio in Canada has slowed down, according to the CMHC, but "remains near a record high" at around 170 per cent. Vancouver is the only city with a higher debt-to-income ratio than Toronto at approximately 242 per cent.

Data from Equifax, Statistics Canada and the Conference Board of Canada suggests that mortgages make up more than two thirds of all debt across the country. Image via CMHC.

What concerns the CMHC is how vulnerable people living in both of Canada's biggest cities are to increasing interest rates.

"With interest rates on the rise, highly indebted households could see their increased required payments exceed their budgets," reads a report released by the agency on Thursday.

"The increased debt payment burden may come at the cost of reduced consumption, decreased savings or opting to make lower repayments on principal amounts."

"Some households might even default on their loans if their incomes are not sufficient to cover higher expenses and credit charges," it warns, noting that such a trend could negatively impact other areas of the economy.

It's a scary picture, given that the Bank of Canada has already raised its key interest rate five times since last July. Another hike is expected in 2019, says the Canadian Press, which will only make existing debts even harder to pay off.


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Dean Watson, 33 of Toronto is accused of swinging an axe at Spadina TTC subway station

Toronto Police have laid charges after a crazed axe-wielding man terrorized TTC passengers during Wednesday’s morning rush hour.

Officers were called just after 7:30 a.m. for a man with a knife at the Ossington subway.

Police allege the man — who “was acting in a strange manner” — entered a subway train with three axes and headed toward Spadina station, where he exited and went to the streetcar platform.

“He began swinging the largest of the axes in a threatening manner causing numerous people to flee the area,” police said Thursday.

He then fled by running into the streetcar tunnel.

Dean Watson, 33, of Toronto, has been charged with weapons dangerous, carry a concealed weapon, assault with a weapon, mischief and fail to comply with probation.

Police are asking witnesses to call 416-808-5300 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
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Jonathan Gayle-West, 29, of Oshawa, was pronounced dead at the scene, near Islington Ave. and St. Andrews Blvd

Toronto police have identified the victim found in a crashed car with gunshot wounds in Etobicoke on Wednesday.

Jonathan Gayle-West, 29, of Oshawa, was pronounced dead at the scene, near Islington Ave. and St. Andrews Blvd.

Police said they found him in the driver’s seat of his car, which had struck a tree.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact police at 416-808-7400 or anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
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Male victim found with gunshot wounds at scene of Etobicoke crash pronounced dead

A male victim found suffering from gunshot wounds at the scene of a collision in the city’s Kingsview Village on Wednesday night has been pronounced dead.

Emergency crews were called to the area of Islington Avenue and St. Andrews Boulevard at around 6:30 p.m. for reports of a crash.

Upon arrival at the scene, officers said they located a male inside a vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds. Life-saving efforts were attempted by Toronto paramedics but he succumbed to his injuries at the scene, police said.

No information regarding any possible suspects has been released in connection with this investigation.

Homicide detectives have taken over the case. The victim’s death is the city’s 93rd homicide of the year.

Roads have been blocked off in the area.
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Bruce McKinnon, 47, and Jon Rasmussen, 29 built homemade handguns that sold for $2,500 each in GTA

The OPP and several GTA police services say they have disrupted a pair of weapons smugglers who allegedly built 120 untraceable handguns and sold them to criminal gangs for as much as $2,500 each.

OPP Supt. Bryan MacKillop said that starting last year; police services in the GTA noticed they were seizing numerous handguns that did not have serial numbers, making them impossible to trace.

The handguns resembled a popular model but lacked any manufacturer’s mark on them, suggesting they were made in secret.

“It’s not something that requires a big machine shop or a big industrial area to manufacture,” MacKillop told reporters Tuesday.

Last week, after spending eight months on the investigation, officers from across the GTA executed 39 search warrants involving close to 400 police officers.

They allegedly seized 14 handguns, six long guns including a World War II-era PPS43 submachine gun capable of fully automatic fire, a shortened Galil assault rifle, hand grenades, silencers and body armour.

They also found several kilograms of cocaine and some fentanyl. Four vehicles and one house were also seized as proceeds of crime.

A total of 23 people were arrested. Two of the suspects — Bruce McKinnon, 47, and Jon Rasmussen, 29 — stand accused of manufacturing the guns.

“We have reason to believe two main accused have conspired to manufacture and traffic in excess of 120 untraceable handguns,” MacKillop said.

Together, the two men are facing 59 separate criminal charges. All accused were held in custody pending bail hearings.

Investigators said the parts for the handguns are legally available for purchase in Canada, but putting them together to make a working semi-automatic handgun is a crime.

As the guns have no markings or a serial number, they are meant for only one purpose, crime.

The guns were sold for about $2,500, which is somewhat of a bargain on the black market.

Last month, CBSA and Toronto police officials told reporters that top-quality, polymer-framed handguns smuggled from the United States can fetch as much as $5,000.

“What we’ve been able is say this group was supplying weapons to people involved in criminality linked to street gangs,” MacKillop said.

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Real estate slowdown to cost Toronto nearly $100-million

Toronto’s cooling real-estate market is on track to cost its municipal government nearly $100-million in tax revenue – something critics of Mayor John Tory warn could force the city to choose between higher property-tax hikes or cuts to services in next year’s city budget.

In a report going before Toronto’s new city council on Thursday, the city’s finance department says that as of Sept. 30, revenue from the city’s municipal land-transfer tax – levied on all property sales – was off by $59.47-million, and is on pace to be $99-million lower than planned when the ink finally dries on the city’s 2018 books.

The city is still planning on a small overall surplus because some departments spent less than budgeted and the city saw revenue increases in other areas.

Toronto’s municipal government, which has an $11-billion operating budget, has become increasingly dependent on the decade-old land-transfer tax, which has grown each year as the real-estate market sizzled and brought in $817-million in 2017. But some councillors – and the former city manager, Peter Wallace – have been warning for years that the city could not continue to gamble on such a volatile revenue source.

In its 2018 budget, the city again banked on receiving the same $817-million it brought in last year. Out of caution, as the real-estate market began to waver, council agreed not to assume any anticipated increase. However, council kept the city’s other main source of revenue, property taxes, at the rate of inflation, as Mr. Tory promised and has since pledged to do again in his second term.

But revenues from the land-transfer tax are sinking, and the city – which by law cannot run an operating budget deficit – could have a tougher time as it crafts its 2019 budget, a months-long process that the new city council is about to start. To recoup a $100-million hole created by the land-transfer tax decline with property taxes alone, with no other cuts or new revenue, residential rates would have to rise by close to 4 per cent next year.

“For the last eight years, conservative mayors have been hiding their austerity behind the land-transfer tax,” said Councillor Gord Perks, Ward 4 (Parkdale-High Park), a left-leaning critic of Mr. Tory who has called for higher property taxes. “Now that game has come to an end. We are either going to have to raise property taxes or cut services.”

In an e-mailed statement, Don Peat, a spokesman for Mr. Tory, pointed out the city is still projected to run a small surplus overall for the year despite the slip in land-transfer tax. Mr. Peat also repeated the mayor’s pledge to again keep property-taxes hikes at or below inflation.

“Every year, Councillor Perks routinely predicts budget calamity and calls for sky-high tax increases – while he is entitled to expressing that opinion, voters have endorsed the Mayor’s fiscally responsible approach that invests in key areas, like transit, while keeping taxes low,” Mr. Peat said.

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Nicholas Mahabir out on bail when arrested for 14-year-old Riley Driver-Martin's murder

One of the two identical brothers accused of murdering a Mississauga teen was already on bail for charges, including robbery and uttering death threats, when arrested for the fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Riley Driver-Martin.

Nicholas Mahabir, 20 — a triplet, who was accused last month of breaching his bail conditions — was on a release for allegedly uttering death threats in January and for robbery charges stemming from allegations in May when arrested again last Friday.

Mahabir will be back in court on Wednesday for the murder charge and two days later for the threatening, robbery and breach allegations.

He and triplet Mark are facing second-degree murder charges in the stabbing death of Driver-Martin. The teen was found in a park area behind Ecole Horizon Jeunesse Public School, on Lewisham Dr., at 8 a.m. Friday by a friend.

Sources told the Sun the two accused men allegedly accompanied Driver-Martin into the park shortly after 11 p.m. on Thursday.

Peel Regional Police spotted Nicholas Mahabir near his Sandgate Cres. home in Mississauga about 15 hours after the discovery of the teen’s body and charged him with murder.

“He is maintaining his innocence at this time and we’ll be exploring every avenue of defence on his behalf,” said Nicholas’ lawyer, Marcus Bornfreund.

Mark Mahabir turned himself in Saturday at 11 division in Peel.

“I expect him to be acquitted,” said Mark’s lawyer David Midanik in a phone interview Monday.  Mark Mahabir will be back in court on Dec. 24.

Police have alleged the killing wasn’t random and the victim was targeted.

The victim was described as a “great kid” and the “best” by his distraught uncle Donny Sexton.

Driver-Martin stood up to bullies, especially those preying upon smaller children and his slaying “has devastated his family and the community” in Mississauga’s  Truscott Dr. area, said Sexton.

Police said Driver-Martin was a “completely innocent victim” and wasn’t known to them.

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