DANFORTH SHOOTING: Gunman identified, family alleges 'severe mental health' challenges
Late Monday afternoon, the province’s Special Investigations Unit identified the shooter as 29-year-old Faisal Hussain of Toronto.
In the press release, the province’s police watchdog said the decision to release Hussain’s name came after discussions with his family, and “due to exceptional circumstances of this tragic incident, and the public interest in knowing the man’s identity.”
“Our son had severe mental health challenges, struggling with psychosis and depression his entire life,” the statement reads.
“The interventions of professionals were unsuccessful. Medications and therapy were unable to treat him.”
The family claims they worked hard to get Hussain treatment, but never imagined “that this would be his devastating and destructive end.”
A
10-year-old girl from the GTA and an 18-year-old Toronto woman were
killed when a gunman opened fire on the Danforth in Toronto’s Greektown
late Sunday, wounding 13 others.Toronto Police sources say the gunman killed himself in the wake of the shooting. The SIU said the 29-year-old man is from Toronto and it is still working to confirm his identity.
“We do not know why this happened yet,” Toronto Police Chief Saunders told a news conference Monday. “The investigation itself is very fluid, it is very new, it’s going to take some time.”
Just after 10 p.m., police, fire and EMS were called to Danforth Ave. near Logan Ave., for reports of a shooting.
The gunman moved methodically down a bustling stretch of Danforth, spraying bullets at unsuspecting bystanders.
Witnesses posted many photos and videos, including a clip that appears to show a man, clad in black with a bag at his side, walk a few steps before lifting his arms in front of him as gunshots ring out.
The Special Investigations Unit says the man exchanged gunfire with two police officers on Bowden St., south of Danforth, before he fled on foot. He was found a short time later within 100 metres on Danforth with a fatal gunshot wound.
The SIU said over the noon-hour that a post-mortem on the gunman is scheduled for Tuesday.
The agency is “in possession of the man’s handgun,” a spokesman added.
Saunders revealed the ages of the victims at a noon-hour press conference. He said their names would be released at another time.
The victims range in age from 10 to 59. Earlier reports from police had 12 injured, but Saunders said that 13 innocent people were wounded in the shooting, in addition to the two killed. Six of the wounded are women and seven are men.
Some of the injured may have “life-altering injuries,” Det. Sgt. Terry Browne said, adding that some of the victims have been treated and will be released “in short order.”
Sunnybrook hospital said its trauma centre received three patients. Their status was not immediately released.
“We have several scenes within the (crime) scene. It is disturbing,” Browne said.
Saunders did not release the gunman’s name, citing the SIU involvement. Police said they were working to get a search warrant for a property linked to the gunman.
Toronto Police sources had told the Sun a girl had been shot in the back.
Katie, who didn’t want to give her last name, was returning from dinner downtown with friends and was driving eastbound on the Danforth when she witnessed the shooter firing what appeared to be a handgun multiple times on the north side of the street.
“We heard a loud bang and I just looked to my left and I saw a guy in a black hoodie, just standing there, pointing at one of the storefront windows and the glass was just shattered,” she said.
“He was firing multiple shots, we heard eight, if not more.”
“It was like he was in a stance, his arms were straight out,” she said.
“It looked like he was firing straight in front of him. It looked very aimed.
“We stayed in the car and I told my friend to drive faster,” she said. “It didn’t register until a few minutes later. A few blocks later, I dialed 911.”
Katie said the gunman continued to shoot as she and her friends drove away, passing by multiple police cars and ambulances rushing to the scene.
“We’re just in shock right now,” she said. “One of my friends said she saw people on the sidewalk (when he was shooting) and other people down the street coming out of stores. I didn’t even think of ‘mass shooting’ until I started watching the news. And now that I know that, it makes me feel so much worse.”
John Tulloch said he and his brother had just gotten out of their car on Danforth when he heard about 20 to 30 gunshots.
“We just ran. We saw people starting to run so we just ran,” he said.
Crime specialist Ross McLean said police at the scene told him, before they moved the shooter’s body from the scene, they had to “check in for explosives.”
As of Monday morning, police still had the Danforth closed between Broadview and Pape Aves. and TTC subway trains were bypassing Chester station.
Mayor John Tory called the shooting rampage “a despicable act” and said he was “outraged.”
“On behalf of all Toronto residents, I am outraged that someone has unleashed such a terrible attack on our city and people innocently enjoying a Sunday evening.
“This is a tragedy and on behalf of all Toronto residents, we are extending our prayers to all the innocent people attacked tonight, their families and their friends.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent a statement of support via Twitter.
“My thoughts are with everyone affected by the terrible tragedy on the Danforth last night in Toronto, and may the injured make a full recovery,” he wrote Monday morning. “The people of Toronto are strong, resilient and brave — and we’ll be there to support you through this difficult time.”
Sunday night’s shooting came just days after Toronto police began an anti-violence initiative that saw an additional 200 officers working the night shift in the city — a response to an especially violent summer in Toronto that’s seen numerous people gunned down.
In April, a white van mounted a sidewalk on Yonge St., between Finch and Sheppard Aves., running down pedestrians.
Alek Minassian, 25, of Richmond Hill, faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder.
THE LATEST DEADLY SHOOTING IN TORONTO
Here are some of the high-profile shootings in Toronto since January:
July 1, 2018: Nineteen-year-old Marcel Teme died days after being shot in the Kensington Market neighbourhood. He was among four people shot in the area west of the downtown core.
June 30, 2018: Two people associated with the city’s rap scene — 21-year-old Jahvante Smart, also known as Smoke Dawg, and 28-year-old Ernest Modekwe — were killed in a shooting downtown. On the same day, a driver near Shuter and George streets took a shotgun out of her trunk and opened fire at a pedestrian, injuring the 21-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man on a bike.
June 24, 2018: Jenas Nyarko, 31, was killed when someone in an SUV fired a single shot into a car in which she was a passenger returning from a funeral. In a separate incident on the same day, two men were killed when multiple shots were fired into a home.
June 14, 2018: Two young sisters — age five and nine — were sent to hospital with gunshot wounds to their abdomen and leg after two men got out of a truck and opened fire at a playground where about 16 children were playing in the city’s east end.
Jan. 23, 2018: A 20-year-old man was charged with seven counts of attempted murder after a string of random shootings over two weeks. Toronto police say the man allegedly worked his way through neighbourhoods, opening fire on a total of seven victims ranging in age from four to 47.
— With files from Jenny Yuen, Victor Biro, Sam Pazzano and The Canadian Press
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @bryanpassifiume
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