Alleged target of Toronto playground shooting that injured 2 girls charged:police

TORONTO — Police say the alleged target in a shooting at a Toronto playground that left two young girls injured is facing numerous charges.

Investigators say the 26-year-old suspect was arrested Friday as officers with the city’s gun and gang task force searched an east-end Toronto home.

They say a loaded semi-automatic handgun, ammunition, crack cocaine and heroin were seized.

The man is to appear in court on Saturday facing 16 charges, including unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession for the purpose of weapons trafficking and drug possession.

Police allege he was the intended target of a June 14 shooting in which two sisters, aged five and nine years old, were struck by gunfire as they and other children were in an east-end playground.

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Two men, aged 21 and 23, have been charged in the shooting and police say an arrest warrant remains outstanding for another 23-year-old.

The two injured girls underwent several surgeries. The five-year-old was shot in her abdomen while the nine-year-old was shot above her ankle.

In July, Toronto police announced the force was adding 200 frontline officers to the night shift for the summer.

About a month after the playground incident, the girls’ mother spoke out, calling for better education and community support programs, not increased police presence, to curb gun violence in the city.

Toronto must reduce the number of young people who turn to crime, Stacey King said at a meeting of the city’s board of health where ongoing research into community violence was being discussed.

She suggested children should be taught about issues that lie at the root of gun violence, including bullying and mental health.

“We have to have more mentorship programs, we have to have more resources, we have to have more jobs for youth, we have to have more trades for them,” she said. “For (people) to say they want more cops, this is not going to put a stop to it.”

The Canadian Press