Faisal Hussain finished his shift at a Loblaws around the corner from his family’s East York highrise, then, according to a co-worker, spent six hours sitting at a picnic table outside his work — dressed all in black — before heading to Greektown with evil intentions last Sunday.
The 29-year-old smoked cigarettes, glared at passersby as he paced along a residential street, and around 10 p.m., walked west along Danforth Ave., near Logan ave., holding a .40 calibre Smith & Wesson at his side.
The killer then began his rampage, callously shooting random pedestrians and firing dozens of rounds from the semi-automatic handgun into cafes and restaurants — on the north and south sides of the street — packed with people enjoying a warm summer night.
It’s believed Hussain emptied several magazines of ammunition while on the move and by the time he turned his gun on himself to end his own life during a shootout with Toronto Police on nearby Bowden St., 15 people were hit by gunfire and two of the victims — Reese Fallon, 18, and Julianna Kozis, 10 — died.
In the aftermath, police detonated a package but they have not revealed further details.
Was Hussain mentally unstable? Clearly.
But did he suffer from psychosis, as his family claims? Did he have ties to a street gang like his older brother? Or was he a self-radicalized jihadist carrying out an attack that ISIS later took credit for?
“Anyone who goes out and shoots 15 people…must have some mental instability,” one cop, who asked not to be identified, told the Sun. “So mental health definitely may have played a role in this.”
“But ISIS, like street gangs, preys on marginalized people,” the officer added.
Less than 24 hours after the deadly rampage, professional activist Mohammed Hashim released a statement purportedly from Hussain’s family offering “deepest condolences” to the victims of their son’s “horrific actions.”
Media have reported Hussain’s parents, who live on Thorncliffe Park Dr. and are originally from Pakistan, have four children — a daughter who was killed in a car crash and three sons, one of whom has been in a coma for the last year. The father has also reportedly been dealing with health issues.
The family’s statement went on to say Hussain had been “struggling with psychosis and depression his entire life” and neither medications nor therapy had helped with his “severe mental health challenges.”
Psychosis is a severe mental disorder that impairs thought and emotions to the point where sufferers can lose touch with reality.
However, many people who knew Hussain describe him as “bubbly,” always smiling and helpful, and saw no hint of mental health issues.
The Sun learned Toronto Police had multiple contacts with Hussain dating as far back as 2010 when he was a student at Victoria Park Collegiate Institute and told a teacher “it would be really cool to kill someone.”
“If he was threatening to harm himself or others, that would have been grounds to apprehend him under the Mental Health Act,” one cop explained. “But that whole process is a revolving door and he would have been released soon after.”
Sources have also said the RCMP had spoken to Hussain about visiting pro-Islamic State websites.
But Canada’s Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale was quick to deny Hussain was on any federal watchlists.
“As far as we’re aware at this stage based on the state of the investigation…there is no connection between that individual and national security,” he told media.
One source with close ties to the policing world scoffed at Goodale’s comment.
“Most people don’t end up having the RCMP show up at their home to talk to them about their online activity,” said the source, who asked not to be named.
The source said the feds, police chief and others have been “playing with words” and “deceiving the public.”
“It’s all political,” the source said.
When ISIS released a statement Wednesday saying Hussain “was a soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the attack in response to calls to target the citizens of the coalition countries,” Chief Mark Saunders released a statement the next day saying police have “no evidence to support” the terror group’s claim.
Saunders also said police “will continue to explore every investigative avenue including interviewing those who knew Mr. Hussain, reviewing his online activity, and looking into his experiences with mental health” — suggesting the possibility the attack was ISIS-inspired has not been ruled out.
A Sun source also criticized media reports that have suggested the gun used by Hussain originated in the U.S.
“Lots of firearms originate in the U.S. and are legally shipped to gun shops and licensed gun collectors in Canada,” the source said.
The handgun was actually among a number of firearms reported stolen in 2016 from a gun store in Saskatoon, Sask.
And court records show Hussain’s older brother Fahad Hussain was arrested for allegedly being a low-level crack-cocaine dealer in Saskatoon in 2015.
Multiple Sun sources say Fahad had known ties to the Thorncliffe Park Kings, aka TPK — a street gang rooted in the Thorncliffe Park Dr. area.
When Fahad needed to make bail after his 2015 arrest in Saskatoon, court records show he turned to his childhood pal Maisum Ansari.
Sun sources say Fahad returned home to Toronto in 2017 and was awaiting trial when he overdosed last summer on a mix of cocaine and heroin that may have been laced with another substance. He has been in a vegetative state with little brain activity ever since and his drug charges have been stayed.
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