Zion

Toronto Police initially responded to this as an active shooter, which was the appropriate response based on the information available at the time. Investigators quickly determined it appears to have been a targeted gunfight between two individuals, not an indiscriminate active shooter targeting the public. That distinction matters, but it doesn’t lessen the horror. Two men are dead, five people were injured, and innocent people and families were caught in the crossfire while enjoying a summer evening at Toronto’s Salsa on St. Clair festival. The calculation for these fu$&! has to change. The risk of being identified, arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and spending multiple multiple multiple years behind bars must outweigh any perceived reward of shooting a rival. Until that balance shifts, reckless public gun violence like this will continue to put innocent lives at risk. More families shattered and for what? For enjoying a summer festival with family and friends. This is by no means the Toronto I grew up in or policed for three decades. Toronto is not nearly as safe as it once was. To many illegal guns and to many willing to use them. And, fewer people who want to hold those thugs accountable.