Boxing Day horror downtown
Dec. 26, 2005. 06:26 PM

Shots rang out on busy Toronto streets crowded with Boxing Day shoppers today, killing one person and wounding seven others.
The first shots were apparently fired around 5:30 p.m. from a vehicle driving north on Yonge St. near Gerrard St., severely wounding one woman in the head.

Police received calls within minutes about seven other shooting victims — including one in the Delta Chelsea hotel, one at a Pizza Pizza, two in the doorway of the nearby Foot Locker and one at a Red Lobster restaurant.

Police have two men in custody in connection with the shootings. They were apprehended at the Castle Frank subway station.

One of the victims shot at the Foot Locker has apparently died. Two of the others shot are reported to be in critical condition at St. Michael’s hospital. One victim reportedly walked into Mt. Sinai hospital.

The wounded include a 16-year-old boy.

Wendy Perry and her husband were staying at the Delta Chelsea hotel when the violence erupted.

They could see the area streets from the balcony of their hotel room.

She said she heard a number of shots go off and the sound of a car squealing away.

"We saw people racing out of stores," she said. "I thought it was fireworks."

 

**************************************
**************************************

 

So, I was merrily shopping with my brother for some shoes and clothes (mostly his) on boxing day. Well...not merrily...at that time I was getting a little tired of waiting because there were so many people. There's waiting to check out, waiting to get the staff to find different size shoes, waiting for my brother to look for and try new things...in the end we still got pretty good deals, but I'm just usually lazy when it comes to shopping.

I was sitting at the very end of Aldo store on Yonge street, and my brother was beside me trying on the shoes to see how they look and how they fit. Suddenly there were people at the front of the store rushing towards me (the back of the store), as if they were running for their lives. Well, it turns out that they were. I had no idea what was going on, and the people in the middle of the store probably didn't either since they weren't really moving. However, it seemed like a good idea at the time to move even further back because people were rushing that way.

 

It was said that there was gun fire at the front, according to some people who were already standing at the very end of the store.

 

In about two or three minutes, we heard sirens from police and ambulances. They sealed the intersection.
People in the store resumed their exchanging different sizes, looking for new handbag and shoes, and stuff. The cashier at the front of the store cleared up a lot. Finally, no line. We checked out easily. As we walked out of the store, there bystanders everywhere...we also saw someone being pushed into the ambulance. Because the road was sealed, we had to take a little detour home. On our way back, we saw a couple more ambulances and fire engines heading that way. I guess they're probably all going to that same place.

What was really surprising was that within minutes people quickly resumed their shopping activities, and within half a block no one was aware of this incident.

 

Well, how else, right? The gunshots were over.