Violence Prevention Meeting Gets Man Shot
Posted on 12 July 2010 by LynThomas in Society
A Canadian man was shot by a stray bullet while attending an anti-violence meeting. This made it the most successful anti-violence barbecue ever.
The 25 year-old was caught in the crossfire while protecting his girlfriend and her son, after gun fire brazenly erupted between men in a couple of cars further along the street.
The violence-prevention barbecue was taking place in a park, on Sidney Belsey Crescent, Toronto. The adjacent Jane St-Weston Rd area is known as an ‘at risk community’. It is a rundown neighbourhood, but the residents are trying to make their ghetto safer.
The man was superficially hit in the back, as shots rang out just on dusk. He was released from hospital the following day.
Staff Sergeant Richard McKeown said it was “Just kind of a fluke that the completely unrelated violence interrupted an anti-violence barbecue. It kind of emphasizes their points that we really do have to get these guns off the streets.”
The police believe at least three or four men were engaged in the gun battle, which damaged several vehicles on the street. They have home video footage that was taken at the time of the shooting.
Jane Street is well known for the number of murders and other forms of violence which have taken place in the area over the years, frequently related to the local drug trade.
Although some may regard it as a haven for gang members and drug dealers, the area has a large population of hard working immigrants from various backgrounds, trying to make a living under difficult conditions. It is a place where desperate drug addicts live amongst the working class and therefore attracts drug dealers from nearby troubled areas, forcing residents to live in fear of spats of violent conflicts between feuding factions.
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