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One battling for his life in hospital after gunfire erupts
Toronto Star
Robyn Doolittle
Brett Popplewell
Staff Reporters
Saturday, March 15, 2008
One man is confirmed dead and five others wounded in a shooting at a North York housing complex last night.
One resident said he heard that the youths were "playing with their guns" when the gunfire broke out just before 10 p.m. in the Dufferin St. and Lawrence Ave. W. area, south of Yorkdale Shopping Centre. Another said the incident may have been triggered when one gun accidentally fired, prompting others in the group to return gunfire.
Other area residents say the same group of teens frequently hangs out at the north end of the complex, and the youths are known to carry handguns.
Hassan Ainanshe was at work when he heard shooting had broken out next to his home, and rushed back to check on his teenage sons.
"Before it was The Jungle, but we cleaned it up," said Ainanshe, who moved here from Somalia five years ago.
"It's safe now – nothing like this has happened before."
Two of the teens were rushed to Sunnybrook trauma centre, and police officers on the scene released few details.
After the shooting, shocked residents gathered outside the two-storey homes as police dog handlers searched for evidence.
Officers stopped passing cars on nearby Flemington Rd. as they canvassed for witnesses.
Halima Mohamoud, who lives on Edengarth Court, said "it's very scary, especially when you have kids."
Mohamoud, the mother of five children, ranging from under 1 to over 20, said "someone was killed in the court here just last year."
Mohamoud, who has lived in the complex for two years, said she heard shots fired and looked out her window to see what appeared to be bodies across the playground from her house.
Residents in several homes peeked through blankets being used as make-shift drapes, while others clustered in doorways as they sought information about the shootings.
Source: Toronto Star, Mar 15, 2008