Toronto homicides reach record high not seen since 1991
Toronto’s latest deadly shooting marked a grim milestone for Canada’s most populous city on Wednesday as it brought the number of homicides this year to a record high not seen for nearly three decades.
Police said gunshots fired in the city’s west end early Wednesday led to the 89th documented homicide of 2018, matching the all-time high for killings recorded in a calendar year that was set in 1991.
Acting Insp. Hank Idsinga, current head of the force’s homicide unit, acknowledged that Toronto seems to be on pace to eclipse the previous record as it wrestles with a spike in gun-related deaths and said police share public concern about the figures.
“The goal is to have no homicides, and the goal is to have 100 per cent solve rate if we do have homicides,” Idsinga told The Canadian Press. “It’s an ongoing battle.”