Bang Bang, Windows Up

Is it just me, or has there been a trend of crimes lately? It just seems that in a short span of time, a string of shootings have occurred in Toronto and surrounding areas... One after another...

First, the shooting at Eaton Centre sparked community mayhem in the downtown core of Toronto. Then... Little Italy, another shooting at a cafe. Scarborough had their own shooting recently at a parking lot of Kennedy and Hwy 401 and two shootings on Saturday-- a shooting in Richmond Hill and one in North York. On Sunday, a double shooting also occurred at Dufferin and Rogers in the city's West end.






After the Eaton Centre's shooting, many people's minds were made up that it was gang affiliated, with youths and adolescents being involved. However, we can see from the victims and shooters in the subsequent shootings that blaming youths with gang affiliation may not be the correct assumption. The shooter in the Richmond Hill shooting was a man in his 60s, and the North York shooting's vicitm was a 28 year old Hussein Hussein found in an upscale condominium.

Of course, Toronto has its shares of crimes throughout the year, every year. The city is not immune to shootings. Yet, there seems to be a trend that follows suit of one crime after another. This doesn't stop at shootings.

A child was left in a locked minivan today, and had to be rescued, thanks to a woman who was parking her car and noticed a little girl in distress. With the 26 degree weather today, would you have enjoyed that experience? Not to mention a couple of cases of people leaving their dogs in a car prior to this incident. Not to mention, where the little girl was found was in the same area where one of the dogs were found. For some reason, people think pets can just turn on the air conditioner by themselves. If anyone can teach a dog that trick, please YouTube it.

There is a correlation with these cases, however, being that in the summer, leaving children or pets in a hot car is noted increasingly during this season.

But what can explain the shootings? Is that a trend too?
It's not like Toronto NEVER has shootings, but it seems that there is a trend going on and more shootings are to come. And these are just the incidences that we actually hear about. We all know that the media picks and chooses what is reported to the public--- what is worth the coverage and what isn't.

It's beyond me why someone would place a gun in their hand and point it at their target, pull the trigger and be off on their way. At the same time, I've never lived that life and my circumstances-- privileged-- have never called for that kind of judgement. I can only imagine the severe harm I would do onto someone who harmed my family and friends. I can ONLY imagine.
However, the string of shootings in Toronto and the GTA in the recent weeks is disturbing because there seems to be some sort of schedule of shootings.

What day, what location and who is next?

Pseudo-Science, Googlers and many theorists and sociologists would like to place the blame on the economy, the individual, the government, the institutions... But the sad part is, we may never really know, despite how "predictable" the outcomes may be.