Police say a weekend shooting in Chinatown that left two men dead was targeted, but not gang-related.
The shooting occurred at approximately 3:20 a.m. on Sunday outside the New Ho King restaurant on Spadina Avenue near Nassau Street.
Investigators say a group of men was involved in an altercation outside the restaurant when the gunfire broke out.
One of the victims was identified by his mother as 29-year-old Quinn Taylor.
“I just don’t understand how anything like this can happen to him because he’s such a good guy,” said Brenda MacIntyre, Taylor’s mother.
Taylor and another man, identified by family as 26-year-old David Michael Eminess, were both killed as a result of the incident.
The identity of both victims was confirmed by police at a press conference on Tuesday.
Police said that, so far, there is no indication that the shooting was gang-related.
“Gang members and people are carrying guns – high-capacity magazine guns, high-power guns – and they have a low threshold and it doesn’t take much for them to take it out and use it against some unsuspecting individual. The circumstances here I believe speak to that,” Staff Insp. Greg McLane told reporters Tuesday. “Based on what I know now I would say that it is more likely than not that they (the victims) were just three guys out for an evening and something happened.”
“There are many, many possibilities (for the motive) and one possibility would be that there was some altercation, words spoken, an unintentional bump and the shooter jumped from 0 to 1,000, pulled out his weapon and shot and killed these two young men,” he said.
Paramedics pronounced one of the men dead at the scene. The other was transported to hospital in life-threatening condition where he later succumbed to his injuries.
A third man suffered serious injuries. Det.-Sgt. Mike Carbone said two other victims were taken to hospital with unknown injuries. Police said two of the people injured in the shooting were bystanders and were not involved in the altercation.
No arrests have yet been made and police have not released any suspect descriptions.
Taylor had a one-year-old daughter and was a talented musician.
His family said they are still in shock after his death.
“It doesn’t feel real,” MacIntyre said. “I don’t know what’s going on. This is just wrong.”
Investigators are currently reviewing footage from security cameras in the area and speaking with patrons of the restaurant who may have witnessed the incident.
Police are urging anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
‘Carding’ controversy partly responsible: union head
The head of the union representing Toronto police officers said the widespread controversy over street checks or ‘carding’ is partly to blame for the spike in violent crime because it has interfered with officers’ ability to prevent crime.
“Police officers are not engaging (with the public) because of the policy paralysis on how to do street checks and how to obtain valuable investigative information,” said Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack.
The practice remains suspended pending new guidelines from the provincial government.
Meanwhile, Toronto police continue to investigate Sunday’s fatal shooting.
Mayor John Tory and Police Chief Mark Saunders have remained steadfast in their support of reforms to the practice of carding.
Significant spike in gun crime
As of Jan. 25, the number of shootings in Toronto involving injury or death is up from the same time in 2015 by nearly 70 per cent, from 13 to 22.
Last month, 49 people were shot in 35 separate incidents. So far this year, there have been eight murder in Toronto, a significant increase compared to the two homicides that had occurred by the same time last year.
“January was not a good month,” said Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash. “We’ve seen levels of violence in January that we don’t usually see in the city.”
Tory, however, insisted that most of the violence has been gang-related and that Toronto is still a safe city.
“The vast majority of the city, at the vast majority of times, remains safe,” Tory said, but called the rise in crime “unacceptable.”
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Heather Wright
