Residents of Riverdale community where grandmother killed decry lack of TCH security
When the shots rang out in Riverdale on Saturday, Savannah Smith and her cousins ran into their family's home for cover — but once inside, they realized their grandmother wasn't with them.
Peggy Ann Smith, 61, was found with an apparent gunshot wound in an alleyway behind a home in the Toronto Community Housing neighbourhood just east of the Don River shortly after 6:15 p.m. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
"We were just talking and gunshots went off," Smith told CBC News. "Me and my cousins ran inside and my aunt ran inside and my Nan wasn't behind us."
That's when Savannah, one of Smith's 13 grandchildren, says she knew the woman known to so many in the neighbourhood as "Nanny Peggy" had been hit. Smith, who didn't live in the neighbourhood, was always at the home visiting to help look after her daughter's children.
It's a death that's left many in the neighbourhood both afraid and angry, not only about the death of a woman loved by residents in Riverdale, but about a spate of seemingly senseless shootings there this year.
'Saunders, you need to be here'
A home just a few minutes away from where Smith was shot was hit by bullets on May 5. On April 20, shots were fired at another home.
Joan King, a Riverdale resident who runs a non-profit organization in the area called Safety First, is furious about the violence and says more has to be done to stop it. In particular, she says she wants to see Toronto police chief Mark Saunders visit the area and acknowledge what she views as safety issues with buildings run by Toronto Community Housing.
"Chief, if you're listening, Saunders, you need to be here. Because it's not right," King said.
King says she's grateful that police officers with 55 Division are active in the area but wants to see Toronto Community Housing security officers have a more regular presence there, too.
TCH spokesperson Lisa Murray told CBC News on Monday that no security officer from the corporation was present at the time of the incident.
A third-party security guard hired by the corporation to patrol the area for several hours a day has been away for at least a few weeks, including on Saturday, because of what she called resource constraints. Following the community's concerns, TCH has reinstated him, Murray said, after finding "another way of resourcing" him.
Calls for increased TCH security
"You guys wait 'till a lady dies and then you come back with this security business!" King said angrily on Monday.
Murray says the guard would have been unarmed and it's not known that he or she could have done much to stop Saturday's shooting. Moreover she says, TCH is funded by the city to operate as a landlord and while it does what it can to ensure the security of its communities, it is ultimately not a police service.
Nevertheless, she says TCH personnel responded to the scene within five minutes of the shooting being reported to them. Additionally, the corporation has provided surveillance footage to Toronto police and is in the midst of putting in lighting and fencing upgrades at its properties, Murray said
City councillor Paula Fletcher says she's heard from many residents that they'd like to see TCH do more to secure the area.
"I've left messages for the city manager, I've met with the deputy city manager, I've left a message for the mayor," Fletcher said Monday.
Concern over guns and gangs
"I think the city has to step in and help Toronto Community Housing and the police understand what's happened that's got us to this point."
What that action should look like specifically, Fletcher wouldn't say, but she wants to first see a diagnosis of the causes of violence in the area to better understand what measures need to be taken to solve it.
"I'm concerned about guns and gangs in this neighbourhood...The city needs to step in at this point because Toronto community housing has really not been able to pull that piece together yet."
Smith's death is the 48th homicide of the year in Toronto. Police are still seeking two men who were seen fleeing the area Saturday and continue to scour through surveillance video for information.
On Monday, Savannah Smith described her grandmother as a loving woman who went to church every Tuesday and Sunday. "She'd always read her bible and pray for everyone good or bad," the granddaughter said.
A vigil is being held for Smith Monday evening. Mayor John Tory is scheduled to attend.
Ahead of the vigil, Tory called on the public to come forward with any information related to the shooting, saying incidents like this are relatively isolated and that those responsible for the violence form a small group.
"I think we've got to round them up and deal with them because they are not conducive with the way of life that we've established in this city."
