Advertisement

Scarborough shooting calls for renewed effort for societal solutions

The morning after a brazen shooting in the east end of Toronto, residents are worried about where the city is heading and many are hoping for societal solutions.

On Monday night two people died, 21 others were wounded and at least three were trampled after dozens of shots rang out during a neighbourhood block party. While Mayor Rob Ford calls this an "unfortunate, and isolated incident," it's the fourth incident of public gun violence in the city since the beginning of June. With so many shootings, it's hard for people to think this actually is isolated.

[ Related: Toronto police concerned about retaliatory violence ]

Some are calling this latest incident part of a disturbing trend and believe Toronto is becoming more like large American cities. Many seem angry because Scarborough is becoming a household name across Canada and many are calling for societal changes.

Emmanuel called in to CBC Metro Morning to express his feelings said he is "angry because I just live two streets away from the site, and as a parent, as a community member, I continue to raise sad questions about the safety of our city and the responsibility that we have - all of us - to get to the root causes."

[ Related: Toronto Community Housing promises to evict anyone with a gun ]

Jen also called in to say living in Scarborough she has had scary things happen to her, but doesn't believe reactionary measures will solve anything.

"Fear isn't the answer. Being afraid isn't the answer. Something definitely needs to be done. I just don't know the answer."

People on Twitter also shared their feelings:

Chris Penrose works with Success Beyond Limits, a youth outreach program in Toronto Jane-Finch community, and says these things don't happen overnight.

"I feel like we're becoming more polarized," he told CBC. "I feel like we're becoming more desensitized. I feel that people are becoming more hopeless about what we can do around the violence in the city."

While Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is calling his city safe, we must hope these past six weeks aren't a part of another "Year of the Gun" like in 2005. Hopefully these calls for a greater look at the root causes will lead to political action.

With files from CBC

(Reuters photo)