Man wounded in North York shooting as gun violence ravages the city

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Seven shootings in six days – two of them deadly – as gun violence spikes in Toronto the not so good.

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The latest shooting incident, which has the hallmarks of a drive-by shooting, occurred along a section of Finch Ave. W. just off of Hwy. 400 happening around 4:15 a.m. Thursday and sent a man to hospital.

A black Honda CRV came to rest in the middle of Oakdale Rd. – an industrial street just south of Finch and across from Westview Centennial secondary school – with at least 11 visible bullet holes in the driver’s front window and along the driver and passenger side doors.

The vehicle was cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape and its hazard lights were still blinking as Toronto Police gathered evidence Thursday. Up on Finch, just east off the Hwy. 400 off-ramp, officers were also collecting evidence connected to the shooting and 20 police markers the south side of the roadway.

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As of July 7, statistics on the Toronto Police Service website show there have been 253 shootings in the city so far this year – but that number has climbed higher this week. In 2023, the city endured a total of 345 shootings by year’s end.

Police stats show shootings are up 68.7% over the same period last year. And 26 of the 46 murder victims killed so far this year have been shot to death.

Business owners in the North York neighbourhood where Thursday’s shooting unfolded were stunned to see the shot-up car in the middle of the road as they tried to access the area to open their businesses.

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Giancarlo Brotto, who has a physiotherapy supplies business on Oakdale Rd., had to negotiate his way to work through the blocked off street.

“It is nothing new, it happens pretty much every day all over the city,” said Brotto. “You listen to the news in the morning – shooting here, stabbing there. I don’t know.”

“I feel pretty unsafe,” said Brotto, who is originally from Italy. “This country is getting crazy lately. I’ve been 50 years in Canada and it is getting worse the last few years.”

Aldo Lopez, who owns a Peruvian restaurant along the Oakdale stretch, also shared his thoughts on the gun violence plaguing the city.

“Well, it’s not good,” said Lopez.

He thinks about the safety of his patrons even though the shooting happened in the early morning before he opens at noon.

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Since police last updated Toronto’s shooting stats on Sunday, gunfire has erupted numerous times around the city.

On Wednesday, just before 4 p.m., gunshots rang out near a North York warehouse – located at Signet Dr. and Steeles Ave. W. – critically injuring one person.

About 12 hours earlier, police responded to another shooting call near Queen St. W. and Dovercourt Rd. where a man was found suffering from a gunshot to the leg.

On Tuesday, around 3:30 p.m., a young man was shot in a townhome complex near Downsview Park and Stanley Green Blvds. Two men were quickly arrested on scene and police are looking for two other suspects.

On Monday, just after midnight, Homicide detectives were called in to a lowrise apartment building at 145 Jameson Ave. – south of king St. W. – after Mohamed Doumbouya, 16, was gunned down inside a fourth-floor unit.

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Investigators made swift arrests in that case, charging two boys – 16 and 17 – with first-degree murder.

On Sunday, a man was shot at an apartment at 835 Queen St. E. – east of Broadview Ave. – shortly before 3 p.m.

Police subsequently identified a 24-year-old man as a suspect in that shooting but they have yet to arrest him. Moulay Adam Daniels, of Toronto, is wanted for attempted murder and various gun-related charges that include four counts of possession of a firearm contrary to prohibition orders.

On Saturday, a Pickering man was shot dead at a Scarborough gas station – located on Warden Ave. just south of Hwy. 401 – around 10:15 p.m.

That murder victim has since been identified as 28-year-old Sulkashan Selvasingnam.

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