Charges laid after fatal shooting at Toronto block party
By Emily Senger - Thursday, November 8, 2012 - 0 Comments
Toronto police have laid murder charges after the worst public shooting in the city’s…
Toronto police have laid murder charges after the worst public shooting in the city’s history, which left two dead and 23 others injured.
Shequan “Bam Bam” Mesquito, 18, has been charged with two counts of first degree murder, police told the Toronto Star shortly before a press conference Thursday morning. Mesquito is also charged with attempted murder, reckless discharge of a firearm and 24 counts of aggravated assault, Staff Insp. Greg McLane told The Canadian Press.
The shooting occurred as hundreds gathered for a block party on Danzig Street, in the east part of Toronto, on July 17.
Police said in September that the Danzig Street shooting was linked to a gang that called itself the Galloway Boys. That gang has also been linked to three other murders and six other shootings in Toronto over the past year, police said.
Shyanne Charles, 14, and Joshua Yasay, 23, were killed in the Danzig Street shooting. Both were considered innocent bystanders.
Prior to Thursday’s charges, Mesquito was charged with uttering threats in July. Another man, Nahom Tsegazab, 19, has also been charged with reckless discharge of a firearm.
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The Scarborough shootings: Shyanne Charles, gun control, and the Toronto Star
By Michael Petrou - Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 11:56 AM - 0 Comments
Aaron Vincent Elkaim/CP Photo
I get tired of writing about gun control even before I start typing. It is probably the one topic in Canadian public discourse that is most saturated by emotion and bereft of evidence-based arguments. But some contributions to the debate require a response.
This morning we have the Toronto Star weighing in on Monday night’s Danzig Street shooting, in which two people were killed and another 24 were injured when two men opened fire at each other at a neighbourhood barbeque. All the facts are not yet known, but police suspect gang involvement.
The Star’s solution, according to its paper editorial headline, is that it’s “High time to ban guns.” The editorial continues to note that witnesses should come forward. “But society as a whole can do more by banning private ownership of handguns… Indeed it’s hard to imagine how this could have happened at all if the shooters didn’t have access to easily concealed handguns.
“It’s too early to say where the firearms used in the latest bloodshed came from. But there’s no doubt that handguns — legal and otherwise — are all too common and easily obtained. Any reduction in the supply available to criminals would help…
“As of the end of May, there were almost 700,000 legally registered handguns in this country — a sizeable arsenal waiting to be stolen by criminals. While this isn’t the main origin of firepower, private collections represent a significant source that should be shut down.”
Where to begin? Let’s start with a plea for facts. Continue…
