Last Friday, Canada's only NBA team, the Raptors, defied the odds-makers and denigrators of Toronto sports teams (Hello, Poor Len!) by winning Game 6 of the NBC championship series, beating the Golden State Warriors in a very close, seesaw battle. Cue pandemonium in downtown Toronto, including a shooting that took place as celebrations were wrapping up. Inspector Knacker said a 19-year-old man became involved in an altercation with another man, who produced a gun, shot the 19-year-old man and continued to shoot even as the man had fallen with life-threatening injuries.
The suspect then fled with a group of friends, but was stopped by cops who were surveilling [Is this a word? Ed.] the area. Guns and drugs were seized. Charges were laid against... wait for it... Abdulrahman Abdullahi, Kamal Hassan, Ilyas Riyaleh, Jovane Watson, Zachary Cust and Nathaniel Campbell, all from Toronto. While the [insert adjective] Six were appearing in court on Monday, well over a million basketball lovers were converging on Nathan Phillips Square (= city hall square) for the official celebration. Canuck Prime Minister Just In Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and Toronto Mayor John Tory (a liberal, in spite of his surname) were on hand to gush about diversity being Canada's strength and how the Raptors were "Canada's team" even though not a single player was born in the Great No-longer-white North.
Just as the circle jerk was getting under way, shots rang out near the south-east corner of the square. Police originally said that that two people were found with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries near Bay and Albert streets. Toronto's head cop (who is black, by the way) later told the meeja that the number of wounded was, errr, four. "Officers arrived relatively quickly," he said, "and as a result of that three people were arrested in total, two on one incident and one on another."
Investigators also said that two firearms had been recovered. No information was provided regarding charges or the identities or diversity of those arrested. Earlier in the day, four people were injured in two separate stabbing incidents near the Eaton Centre, a popular hangout for certain types, just northeast of city hall. Police have not made any connection between any of the incidents, except maybe the common thread which cannot be mentioned for reasons of political correctness.
In a statement released sometime later, Toronto Mayor John Tory had nothing to say about the "incident" except that "it is disappointing and I'm sure a source of anger for more than just me that anyone would carry a gun and discharge it at what was otherwise a joyous celebration. I hope those found responsible will be held to account to the full extent that the law permits."
He didn't say anything about the elephant in the room, which is Toronto's ongoing problem with black crime, which is one of the poisoned fruits of Canada's open-door policy on immigration, begun 50 years ago by Trudeau Père. Hands up, all those who think that the perpetrators (and victims) of the violence which marred the celebrations were white, old-stock Canadians. Anybody? I thought not. Says Agent 3, "I could have cleaned up betting on that, but couldn't find a bookie who would give more than 3 to 1."
UPDATE ADDED at 1617: The Toronto Police Service [sic] has released the names of the three men arrested at the scene of the shooting: They are Shaquille Anthony Miller, Thaino Toussaint, and Abdikarim Kerow. They all face a number of firearms and drug charges, but the coppers haven't hit them with attempted murder... yet.
Further reading: "Raptors parade was a disaster on many levels", by Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun, 18/6/19
Further viewing: "Diversity Our Strength" - stream of consciousness about the "diverse city" (geddit?) with (Torontonian) Faith J. Goldy, 18/6/19
