'Young people are just fed up, but also...numb'

North Etobicoke community calls for action and resources, not awareness in wake of shooting

- EMILY FAGAN, VICTORIA GIBSON

Mayor Olivia Chow, who joined a community rally in Rexdale last week, says it's important "that we get to the root problem of gun violence, (which) in many ways is despair and disregard of life."

Nobody in the neighbourhood slept Sunday night after the shooting that killed two men and injured three others, said Cealene Gabriel, who lives in a public housing complex across the street from where the gunfire broke out.

“You could hear people screaming, people were running,” she said. “It was just a big shock … I didn’t send my daughter to school that next day because she was terrified.”

The gunfire behind North Albion Collegiate Institute took the lives of Seymour Gibbs, 46, who died Thursday, and Delroy (George) Parkes, 61, who died in hospital after the shooting, along with injuring three others. More than 50 bullets were fired in a shooting police believe was “random,” and committed by two suspects who did not know the victims.

Gun violence isn’t uncommon in Gabriel’s area — it’s seen nine shootings and guns discharged so far this year, resulting in at least six deaths, the second-highest rate out of all neighbourhoods in the GTA, according to Toronto police data. She says her neighbour once had a bullet enter their home. To stay safe, Gabriel and her family sit on the floor in front of their couch to watch TV.

As politicians speak out against this latest shooting, community members say they crave deeper action and renewed resources for youth support programs that have been underfunded in recent years.