Results tagged “homicide”

Honest Ed's turkey giveaway successful like always. Which, Torontoist supposes, is not technically "news," but considering the rest of today's actual news, we felt it appropriate to lead off with a softball.

Toronto's tap water places third in blind taste test. So the next time somebody from New York tells you how awesome it is there, you can say "well, sure, but our water is delicious."

Remember when, if someone was shot on the streets of the GTA, neighbours would appear on TV saying something like "I'm shocked—you just don't expect things like this to happen here?" Those were the good old days in Kensington Market. Violent crime has always been part of the area (usually it's attributed to drugs or alcohol), but a spate of seemingly random shootings has neighbours a little freaked out. On May 15, a 24-year-old man was shot in the head at Augusta St. and College St. And the above images of five of the approximately 18 bullets fired in a shootout at Carr St. and Denison Ave. last Sunday morning. 19-year-old Jonathan Musse was found in alley suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Musse died of his injuries on Thursday, making him Toronto's 27th homicide victim.

Early Sunday morning, a 19-year-old man was found shot near Carr St. and Denison Ave. That afternoon, Carr was still closed while investigators combed through nearby yards looking for clues. At the scene, about 18 little neon green pylons covered bullet casings and other pieces of evidence. We told one of the policeman that, around 2 a.m., we heard kids lighting off fireworks. "That's what the call went out as," said the officer. But when police arrived, they found a wounded man in an alleyway. "It wasn't fireworks, it was about 20 gunshots." We asked if the victim was okay, and the officer shook his head sadly and said, "We wouldn't be here if he was." In fact, CityNews is reporting that the unnamed man is not expected to survive, which would make the incident the city's 25th homicide of 2007 and the 13th (after Glen Davis) involving guns. So here's hoping the injured man pulls through because he's a human being and because these numbers are freaking us out.

It seems like, all across the network, folks were up to no good. Maybe it was all the green beer from last weekend...

Hey, it's snowing. Crazy!

As Best of 2006 lists wind down, First of 2007 lists are just getting started. After Toronto's post-celebration hangover wore off, the city took stock of its first firsts of the year.

Ed Mirvish: theatre tycoon, city hero and...turkey giveaway guru? People lined up overnight outside Honest Ed's for the 19th Annual Turkey Giveaway on Sunday. Now approaching age 93, Ed himself was sadly not in attendance, but son David Mirvish took over greeting duties.

Another day, another mayoral debate, and Torontoist was liveblogging it from University of Toronto's Hart House (See the Star's non-liveblogging take, as well). Kevin Clark crashed the debate, Pitfield wants to drop the voting age to 16, and all of the candidates debating agreed that landed immigrants should be allowed to vote in municipal elections.

A seven (!!) alarm fire destroyed a building at Queen and Sherbourne. The building was occupied by a paint store which had been there since 1913. Firefighters rushed to the scene to stop the fire from spreading.

Somehow, the world of -ists managed to make it through the week despite news that Jen & Vince broke up.

The big story today is the three dead found on 1he 19th floor of the Delta Chelsea. Police were called in around 4:30 am and discovered the bodies of two men and a woman, all had stab wounds. The floor has been sealed off but the hotel remains open.

The Star does a little digging and pulls out the startling fact that 21 of the 32 accused murderers this year were under court orders. Toronto homicide detectives are concerned that so many people accused of violent and gun crimes are able to get bail so easily.

Inquests have been ordered on the death of two patients in the care of Toronto mental health institutes. There are suspicions that these patients were neglected. Under the coroner's act, inquests aren't mandatory in the case of deaths under psychiatric care. These incidents might change that.

David Suzuki gives the Ontario government big ups on its new energy plan. The plan will buy energy from sustainable sources at a premium, hopefully acting as a catalyst to these energy sources in the province.

The Star reports that a man's body was found in a shopping cart on Dentonia Park Ave near Victoria Park and Danforth Aves. The story echoes the discovery of a woman's body in an alley in Parkdale that led to the police instituting a controversial policy of asking to search homes of Parkdale residents.

Leave it to Torontoist to quell the anxieties surrounding violence on the streets of our city. In the wake of two more murders in the Greater Toronto Area, Torontoist would like to remind certain police services and right-wing newspapers that text-messaging has had little effect on murder rates. As of this post, homicides are down from 2003. Conversely, text-messaging use is up.