WARMINGTON: Launching a Toronto police station could have been ‘worse’

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It is not lost on the Toronto Police that while officers avoided shots in the 55 Division substation in East York, the service actually avoided a bullet as well.

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And some police funerals.

“I attended the unit and talked to the officers who worked in the area of ​​the building that was hit by gunfire,” Toronto Police Association President Jon Reid said. “Everyone was very worried about the shooting and realized it could have been a lot worse.”

You better believe it. This was a total attack on Friday night, leaving a “large box of nails” being investigated as a potential attempt to “scatter sharp objects in front of the gate” to put officers in a vulnerable position. If there is any doubt, consider that the police believe that the same suspect (s), hours later, also allegedly shot up a facility that kept people in front of the court and judicial system where staff and residents could have been beaten . The shooters or shooter in a Volvo fled from both scenes and are still at large.

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Officers were warned to be “on guard” regarding their safety. They know that police officers can be murdered and on the 50th anniversary of it Toronto Sun. , we pay tribute to the 18 who have been. The four officers who were killed in the execution of the service in my 30 years are const. Todd Baylis, Det. William Hancox, Sgt. Ryan Russell, const. Jeffrey Northrup.

Toronto Sun. never forget them, or the other fallen, or the dangers current police officers face. Meanwhile, in 2021, you know things are out of control when few people barely turn a blind eye after a police station has been indecently assaulted.

“The violence has become normal and it seems that it is now being tolerated by society,” Reid said.

In his 33 years in the police force, Reid does not remember an incident like this in the old 54 Division building by O’Connor Dr. and Bermondsey Rd. It should scare everyone, because if a police station is not safe from attack, there is nowhere. This happens as the city prepares to suspend police officers who do not disclose their vaccination status, and leaders tweet about green initiatives or vaccine clinics instead of the 20 shootings in one week that resulted in four killings.

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One of the murdered was Beck Taxi driver Christopher Jung, 73, and Doug Devlin, 54, who were robbed and shot dead while out walking his dog. Now a police station has been shot up.

This incident affects not only the officers of that division, but all over the city. Fortunately, no one was injured, said Police Chief James Ramer in Toronto. “We will investigate and ensure that the person responsible is held accountable for their actions. The health and safety of our members is crucial.”

Reid added: “Our members are concerned and outraged by the escalating violence, as is any Toronto citizen. The escalating volley of gunfire in our city is unacceptable. We need to be better staffed and resources to meet the realities today.”

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Unfortunately, the focus in Ontario is to fire some of our heroes in uniform and give bail to the people who make life here dangerous. It is the same city that is prepared to spend millions on removing street names, but which does not come up with any solution to what at times seems like a war zone. In my 30 years on Sun , I have covered some victims of gunfire:

Dante Andreatta Marroquin, Georgina (Vivi) Leimonis, Jane Creba, Chantal Dunn, Breanna Davy, Shyanne Charles, Joshua Yassay, Kesean Williams (Brampton), St. Aubyn Rodney, Tyson Bailey, Jarvis Montague, Ephraim Brown, Ariela Navarro-Fenoy, Bailey Zaveda, Jordan Manners, John O’Keefe, Lecent Ross, Naveed Shahnawaz, Dameion McFarland, Candice Rochelle Bobb and the premature baby Ogry Kyrie, Namb , Jenas Nyarko, Reese Fallon, Julianna Kozis and Ruma Amar are the ones I could remember, but I know there are more.

Now we add Jung and Devlin to the list.

If the bullets in a police station and group home landed differently, there could have been more names.