Pubdate: Tue, 04 Nov 2003
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Page A15
Copyright: 2003, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Jonathan Fowlie

GANG CRIMES PROMPT CALL FOR STRONGER DRUG LAWS

A slew of gang-related violent crimes this weekend had Toronto's top 
homicide officer renewing his call for stronger laws regulating drugs and 
violent criminals.

"We clearly have an out-of-control underworld right now in this city," said 
Staff Inspector Gary Ellis, unit commander for Toronto's homicide squad.

"This certainly wasn't Toronto's proudest weekend," he said, referring to 
the three murders, 28 robberies and five home invasions that occurred 
within the city's boundaries over the weekend.

The most recent incident happened in the early hours of yesterday morning 
when a 40-year-old man was shot several times in the hallway outside his 
fifth-floor apartment on Walmer Road, one block north of Bloor Street.

Neighbours called police who arrived to find the man badly wounded inside 
his apartment. The man later died at Saint Michael's Hospital.

Police have not released the man's name, but neighbours say he was from the 
Caribbean and lived alone. Like many other crimes on the weekend, Staff 
Insp. Ellis said, the incident was likely drug-related.

He said the most distressing case of the weekend was the death of Derek Wah 
Yan, the Scarborough man who was killed when a stray bullet came through 
the wall of his home on Saturday.

He said while police have no suspects, there is good reason to believe that 
the people who were involved in the shootings were part of a gang that may 
have connections to the drug world.
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