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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Shooting rampage rattles Toronto
City's safety defended after deadly mall attack
Matthew Sherwood / Postmedia News Police tape blocks the east entrance to the Eaton Centre Sunday. (POSTMEDIA MATTHEW SHERWOOD FOR N)
Michelle Siu / THE CANADIAN PRESS Ontario MPP Cheri DiNovo (left) and NDP MP Peggy Nash NDP attend a vigil for those injured in the mall shooting in Toronto Sunday. (CP)
TORONTO -- The investigation into a deadly shooting rampage that set off a mass panic at the Toronto Eaton Centre focused Sunday on the shooter behind the brazen attack, as police and local authorities reassured the public that Toronto remains a safe city.
Police confirmed Saturday's shooting at one of Canada's busiest shopping malls -- which killed one and injured seven others -- was a targeted act.
Calling the shooting "disturbing" and "upsetting," Toronto Mayor Rob Ford asked a shaken public to not be deterred by the incident. "This is a safe city and I want people to continue doing what they do every day: go out with their families, go shopping, have fun with their families."
Acting Deputy Chief Jeff McGuire also defended Toronto's reputation.
"One idiot with a gun on a Saturday afternoon in downtown Toronto does not speak to the state of the city... Please do not gauge the city on what we saw yesterday," McGuire told a news conference on Sunday.
Rachel Kennedy, who was two hours into her shift at The Gap on Saturday when the shooting occurred, said the attack was "a little bit nerve-racking."
"I think people are on edge just because it's such a choice attraction...," she said.
Investigators said the man who was killed -- identified as Ahmed Hassan, 24, of Toronto -- had known gang ties. At least one of the victims may also have gang connections, police said, but they had yet to determine if the shooting was gang-related.
"It may be that both of them have gang affiliations, or it may be just the one of them, but we do believe that our deceased in this case may have had some gang affiliation," said Det. Sgt. Brian Borg.
Police said they believe they know who the gunman was, but did not elaborate, saying they did not want to influence first-hand accounts still pouring in a day after the attack.
Investigators were reviewing security video in their hunt for the shooter and interviewing witnesses who were among the hundreds of people in the downtown shopping mall when the gunfire erupted, causing panicked shoppers to charge toward the exit in a wild pandemonium.
Seven people suffered either gunshot wounds or injuries in the stampede. The most seriously wounded is a 23-year-old man who suffered gunshot injuries to his neck and chest. He remained in hospital in critical condition.
A 13-year-old boy who was visiting Toronto with his family suffered a gunshot wound to his head and remained in critical condition Sunday, though police said his injuries were no longer considered life-threatening.
A 28-year-old pregnant woman who was trampled as people rushed the exits was also recovering in hospital.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 4, 2012 A8
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