Man charged with uttering threats prior to Toronto mass shooting
CBC News
Posted: Aug 8, 2012 8:52 PM ET
Last Updated: Aug 9, 2012 6:11 AM ET
Neighbours who live near the location of the Danzig Street shooting watch as police walk by on July 17, the day after the shooting. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim/Canadian Press)
Related
Toronto police say an 18-year-old man faces charges of uttering death threats and multiple weapon charges as part of an investigation into the block party shooting that killed two people and injured 23.
Const. Wendy Drummond said the man allegedly made threats on Danzig Street the same day that gunfire erupted there on July 16, the day of the city's worst mass shooting.
"It's alleged that the threats that were made were to persons that were attending the barbecue," Toronto police Const. Wendy Drummond told CBC News.
Drummond said police have no current information placing the man in the area of the shooting, or connecting a gun allegedly seized during his July 27 arrest with the block party incident.
Shaquan Mesquito faces charges of threatening to cause serious bodily harm.
Prior to Wednesday, police had announced only a single arrest in connection with the violence at the street party.
Nahom Tsegazab, 19, was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm after his arrest last month. He did not face charges in connection with the two people killed on Danzig Street.
"We still require people to come forward with vital information that we know that they have," Drummond said Wednesday.
Police have made repeated appeals in the wake of the shooting for members of the public to provide tips about guns and the people that have them.
In a number of recent gun seizures, police have claimed that public co-operation was a factor in getting the weapons off the street.
According to preliminary statistics posted on the police website, Toronto has seen a rise in shootings this year compared to 2011.
As of Wednesday morning, there had been 156 shootings recorded by police since the start of the year.
That's a 24.8 per cent increase over the number of shootings reported at the same time last year, but slightly fewer than the number reported at the same point in 2009.
With files from The Canadian PressShare Tools
Latest Toronto News Headlines
- Wearing a mask at a riot is now a crime
- The bill that bans the wearing of masks or disguises during a riot or unlawful assembly became one of Canada's newest laws today. more »
- Bob Rae quits as MP in 'very emotional' decision
- Bob Rae, who has represented the Toronto Centre riding for the Liberals since 2008, is stepping down as a Member of Parliament to devote more time to his work as a negotiator for First Nations in Northern Ontario. more »
- Dwane Casey to return as Raptors coach next season
- Dwane Casey will get another chance to get the Toronto Raptors into the playoffs, with the club confirming Wednesday that he'll be back in 2012-13 as head coach. more »
- Police release video of suspect vehicle in Toronto homicide
- Three weeks after the afternoon slaying of a Scarborough father working in his backyard, homicide investigators have released more video of the suspect vehicle passing by the victim as he carts away bricks on his driveway. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Obesity now recognized as a disease
- The American Medical Association has voted to recognize obesity as a disease, while doctors in Canada say they also treat it as such. more »
- Neil Macdonald: Washington's obsession with leakers
- Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are just the most prominent targets in an all-out legal and propaganda campaign that America's security apparatus is mounting against leakers everywhere, Neil Macdonald writes. more »
- Caregiving dads stigmatized at work suggests UofT study
- Fathers who participate in child rearing and housework are likely to be labeled slackers and "failed men" at work, according to a study spearheaded by researchers at the University of Toronto and Long Island University. Are active dads the norm at your workplace? more »
- Dozens of children seized from Manitoba Mennonite community
- Child welfare authorities have removed all but one child from a small Mennonite community in rural Manitoba. more »
- Joni Mitchell plays rare performance at Luminato tribute
- Indiegogo defends Rob Ford crack video campaign
- Couple baffled over burger franchise lockout
- New Parkdale bylaw would restrict bars, nightclubs
- Police release video of suspect vehicle in Toronto homicide
- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford needs security, brother says
- Bob Rae quits as MP in 'very emotional' decision
- Mayor Ford sees 'final nail in the coffin' of bag ban
- Experimental drug shows promise in treating breast, ovarian cancer


Toronto traffic with Joan Chang