Latest news with #LawrenceHeights
CBC
3 days ago
- CBC
Toronto marks National Day Against Gun Violence days after Lawrence Heights shooting
Social Sharing Toronto officials marked the National Day Against Gun Violence with a city hall event on Friday that came after a week in which a shooting left one person dead and five others injured. Mayor Olivia Chow told a gathering at the city's Indigenous Spirit Garden that the national day represents a call for peace and aims to bring awareness to the causes and effects of gun violence and the need for prevention and healing. Chow was joined by Deputy Mayor Amber Morley, Spadina-Fort York MPP Chris Glover and Don Valley North MP Maggie Chi. "The impact of gun violence is far-reaching. It impacts all of us," Chow said. On Tuesday evening, a shooting in Toronto's Lawrence Heights neighbourhood left Yahya Ahmed-Mohamoud, 31, of Toronto, dead. Police identified him in a news release on Friday. Ahmed-Mohamoud suffered life-threatening injuries in the shooting in the area of Ranee Avenue and Varna Drive and and was pronounced dead in hospital. Five others, three men, a woman and a youth, suffered non-life threatening injuries. Toronto police are seeking three suspects in the shooting. Chow said the shooting in Lawrence Heights has shaken the neighbourhood and all of Toronto. Chow, Deputy Mayor Mike Colle and Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw went to the area on Thursday to speak to community members, friends of the victims and neighbourhood activists about the gun violence. "There's a lot of grief, a lot of trauma, people who are afraid in their neighbourhood. They are scared for their kids. But one thing — because they showed up, they will not let fear dictate their lives. They believe that change is possible," Chow said. Chow said she and the police chief were urged to come back to the community to work together for peace. She said she was told: "We are disappointed. We are devastated. But we have not given up." Chow said she is committed to return to the community in a couple of weeks. 'We are here and I am feeling your pain' Shondelle Reis, whose son Joshua Bernard-Reis, 21, died due to gun violence, also spoke at the event. On Sept. 24, 2023, her son was on his way home after helping his sister move some furniture when he got out of his car near his Scarborough home and climbed up some stairs. He was hit by two bullets. He was rushed to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and later removed from life support. Reis said the tragedy tore her family apart. Now she organizes programs and projects for others to help them heal. "I am here this morning, not speaking for myself, but speaking on behalf of all mothers who have lost their children to gun violence. We are here and I am feeling your pain. I am standing in your silence and I am standing in your strength," Reis said. "Today, as I prepare to lay flowers on behalf of families that have lost their children to gun violence, I want to say, I remember you, honour you, and I carry you in my spirit," she said. "Joshua, they thought when they took you that they were going to erase your legacy and your name. But I am here to rewrite your story with ink that will never be erased." Reis said in an interview later her experience is something that no mother should go through. "Because when families have been impacted by gun violence, sometimes those families ... get left behind. They feel like they are the one that committed the crime because no one seems to pay them no mind," Reis said. Last June, the federal government proclaimed the first Friday of June as the National Day Against Gun Violence in Canada.
CBC
4 days ago
- CBC
Police identify deceased victim of Lawrence Heights shooting
Toronto police have identified the man who was killed earlier this week in a shooting in Lawrence Heights that also injured several others. Around 8:37 p.m. on Tuesday, police responded to a call for a shooting in the Ranee Avenue and Varna Drive area, police said in a news release Friday. Police said three suspects approached a group of people, took out guns and began shooting at the group. Yahya Ahmed-Mohamoud, 31, was one of six people shot in the attack, police said Friday. He later died in hospital. The other five people wounded in the attack suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The other victims include three men and one woman, as well as one youth. The suspects fled the scene, police said. They are described as males, who were dressed in dark clothing with their faces covered. All three carried firearms, police said.
CTV News
4 days ago
- CTV News
Lawrence Heights shooting has ‘shaken all of Toronto,' Olivia Chow says
Following a deadly mass shooting, Toronto's police chief and mayor visited Lawrence Heights to discuss gun violence solutions with local residents.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Lawrence Heights shooting has ‘shaken all of Toronto,' Olivia Chow says
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow speaks at a National Day to End Gun Violence ceremony at Nathan Phillips Square on Friday. Mayor Olivia Chow says that a shooting in Lawrence Heights earlier this week that killed one person and injured five others 'has shaken all of Toronto.' The shooting took place in the vicinity of Ranee Avenue and Varna Drive, near Yorkdale mall, at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night. Police have previously said that a group of armed suspects walked up to another group of people and opened fire. A 31-year-old man, who was in a wheelchair, was rushed to the hospital in life-threatening condition but later died. Eglinton-Lawrence Coun. Mike Colle previously told CP24 that the victim was left paralyzed from another shooting in 2018. 'This week was a challenging week for our city. As you know the shooting in Lawrence Heights has shaken that community and it has shaken all of Toronto,' Chow said while speaking at a National Day Against Gun Violence ceremony at Nathan Phillips Square on Friday morning. 'I spent some time there to hear from friends of the people that were shot, community members and neighbourhood activists. There was a lot of grief and a lot of trauma. People are afraid in their neighbourhood, they are scared for their kids. But they will not let fear dictate their lives. They believe that change is possible.' The shooting in Lawrence Heights was just the latest high-profile incident of gun violence in this city so far this year. Earlier this week, police held a press conference to announce that they have arrested three people in connection with a March mass shooting at the Piper Arms pub in Scarborough that injured a dozen people. Police also announced seven other arrests in connection with a rash of shootings connected to the tow-truck industry. On Friday, Chow told attendees at the Nathan Phillips Square ceremony that she is 'disappointed' and 'devastated' by the violence. However, she said that she has not given up and has committed to return to the Lawrence Heights neighbourhood within a few weeks to 'work towards peace.' 'The impacts of gun violence is far reaching. It impacts all of us,' she said. So far this year, Toronto police have responded to 106 shootings and firearm discharges, which represents a 44 per cent decrease from this time last year. A total of seven people have been fatally shot in Toronto so far in 2025, with another 47 sustaining various injuries. Police have not yet made any arrests in connection with the Lawrence Heights shooting.
CTV News
5 days ago
- CTV News
Toronto mayor says Lawrence Heights residents are ‘traumatized' following deadly shooting
Toronto police say the man killed in a 'brazen' Lawrence Heights shooting Tuesday night – that left five others injured – was in a wheelchair. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow visited Lawrence Heights Thursday morning following a deadly shooting in the neighbourhood and says some residents are 'traumatized.' 'There was a lot of grief, which I completely understand. Losing a loved one, or watching your neighbours being gunned down, traumatized by violence, scared, really scared for their kids,' Chow said alongside Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw after meeting with members of the community. 'It was a difficult conversation, but critically important,' she said. One person was killed and five others were injured Tuesday night when shots rang out at Ranee Avenue and Varna Drive, near Yorkdale mall, where police say armed suspects walked up to a group of people and opened fire. A 31-year-old man, who was in a wheelchair, suffered life-threatening injuries and was rushed to hospital where he later died. He has not been identified by police. Five other victims, ranging in ages from 17 to 30 years old, were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Coun. Mike Colle, who joined Chow and Demkiw in Lawrence Heights on Thursday, previously told CP24 that the deceased was left paralyzed from a separate 2018 shooting. Police say the Tuesday night shooting was targeted and that they're looking for three armed suspects, all of whom are described as males, with slim to average builds, wearing dark clothing and face coverings. Police would not say if the shooting was gang related, but note the investigation is ongoing.
