Boxing Day shooting

The Boxing Day shooting took place December 26, 2005 on Toronto's Yonge Street when a shootout between two youth gangs resulted in the death of a 15-year-old student. Six other bystanders—four men and two women—were wounded. The incident took place on one of Toronto's most crowded streets on a very busy shopping day, just a few blocks north of the Toronto Eaton Centre. The story generated national news coverage in Canada and influenced the then-underway 2006 federal election campaign on the issues of gun crime and street violence.

Fatality

Jane Creba (b. May 13, 1990), a student in Grade 10 at Riverdale Collegiate Institute, was killed in the incident. While shopping with her sister, she crossed the road to go to find a public washroom on the west side of the street, when the gunfight erupted. One bullet passed through her upper torso, lodging in her clothing. It was later recovered in hospital. She was rushed to hospital and died during emergency surgery. [ cite journal|title=Forensic tests key to origin of fatal bullet|journal=Globe and Mail|date=2005-12-12|first=Joe|last=Friesen|coauthors=Timothy Appleby|volume=|issue=|pages=|id= |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20051229.SHOOT29E/TPStory/?query=Jane%20Creba/|format=|accessdate=2007-12-25 ]

Initial arrests

Police arrested two men on several gun charges at Castle Frank subway station minutes after the shooting: Andre Thompson, 20, who was on probation at the time; and a 17-year-old male who cannot be identified under Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act. Thompson was released just before Christmas from Maplehurst prison near Milton, Ontario, where he had served 30 days for his role in a convenience-store robbery. He declined a bail hearing for his current charges. Police believe as many as 10 to 15 people were involved in the shooting and that more than one gun was fired.

Later arrests

Twenty detectives at Toronto police were assigned to "Project Green Apple" (named after her favourite food [ cite web|url=http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Strobel_Mike/2006/06/14/1631043.html |title=It was a wonderful dawn in the neighbourhood |accessdate=2007-12-25 |date=2004-06-14 |publisher=TorontoSun.com ] ) to work on the case. On June 13, 2006, Toronto Police conducted multiple raids at 14 locations throughout Toronto in the early morning, arresting six men and two teenagers. Charges which have been laid include: manslaughter, second-degree murder and attempted murder relating to six other by-standers. All arrested are members of two different street gangs. [ cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060613/police_raids_060613/20060613?hub=TopStories |title=T.O. police charge 8 in Creba shooting death |accessdate=2007-12-25 |date=2006-06-13 |publisher=CTV.ca ]

As of December 2007, ten people have been charged with murder or manslaughter in the case, three of whom are youths. Those charged with second-degree murder include Tyshaun Barnett and Louis Woodcock, both 19, Jeremiah Valentine, 24, and a youth who was 17 at the time of the shootings. One of the teenagers who was arrested in June and charged with manslaughter was exonerated on October 25, 2007 after the preliminary hearing. The teenager charged with murder was committed to trial. [ cite journal|title=One teen exonerated, another goes to trial|journal=Globe and Mail|date=2007-10-25|first=Timothy|last=Appleby|coauthors=|volume=|issue=|pages=|id= |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071025.wcreba25/BNStory/National/|format=|accessdate=2007-12-25 ]

In October 2007 a young man who was rounded up in the initial arrests, Eric Boateng, was shot dead in a seemingly unconnected incident. Boateng was not charged with the shooting, but was later charged with cocaine trafficking. [ cite journal|title=Man targeted by gunman was arrested after Creba shooting|journal=Globe and Mail|date=2007-10-23|first=Timothy|last=Appleby|coauthors=|volume=|issue=|pages=|id= |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071023.SHOOT23/TPStory/?query=jane+creba|format=|accessdate=2007-12-25 ]

Media coverage and community impact

The "Boxing Day Shooting" has been the subject of intense media coverage, particularly after a year in which the city of Toronto recorded 80 homicides and a record 52 shooting deaths. Only one month earlier on November 18, 2005, Amon Beckles was killed outside the sanctuary of a church while attending the funeral of his friend, Jamal Hemmings, whose shooting death he may have witnessed a week earlier, on Eglinton Avenue between Oakwood Avenue and Marlee Avenue. Some see Creba’s death as a sign of the beginnings of a big-city crime problem in Toronto. Detective Sergeant Savas Kyriacou of the Toronto Police Service spoke for these people in saying, "Toronto has finally lost its innocence. I think we're going to feel this day for a long time to come." At the same time, Toronto continues to have a lower violent crime rate than similarly-sized American cities, and on a per capita basis, it is on par with other Canadian cities. [ cite web|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051227/toronto_shooting_update_051227?s_name=&no_ads= |title=T.O. shootings take city's 'innocence': Officer |accessdate=2007-12-25 |date=2005-12-28 |publisher=CTV.ca ]

Creba’s death has also caused much controversy: over the causes of gun crime and the ways to handle the problem; over race and the ongoing lack of response to minority killings. Also controversial is resurgence of the Guardian Angels in Toronto – they arrived in mid-January to visit the city. [ cite journal|title=Canada's Orthodox Guardian Angel|journal=The Jewish Press|date=2006-06-21|first=Eliot|last=Resnick|coauthors=|volume=|issue=|pages=|id= |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/displaycontent_new.cfm?contentid=18617&contentname=Canada's%20Orthodox%20Guardian%20Angel&sectionid=15&mode=a&recnum=0|format=|accessdate=2007-12-27 ] Toronto street patrols began in July; however, the chapter had run into financial difficulties by September 2006. [ cite journal|title=Toronto: Broke, Guardian Angels may quit streets|journal=The National Post|date=2006-09-07|first=David|last=George-Cosh|coauthors=|volume=|issue=|pages=|id= |url=http://www.nationalpost.com/news/toronto/story.html?id=88d8e9e5-ae53-4ec9-b50c-ff6462274ca7|format=|accessdate=2007-12-27 ]

A neo-Nazi entity calling itself the "National Socialist Party of Canada" has used Creba's death for racist propaganda. [http://nspcanada.nfshost.com/PDFs/JaneCreba.pdf]

References

External links

* [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061108.wboxing1108/BNStory/National/home Fourth murder suspect charged in Creba shooting] , "Globe and Mail", November 8 2006
* [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20051229.SHOOT29PU/TPStory Slain teenager veered blithely into crossfire] , "Globe and Mail", December 27 2005
* [http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/12/29/newshooting-Toronto051229.html Family of slain Toronto teen remembers their 'bright light'] , "CBC News", December 29 2005
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051227/toronto_shooting_update_051227/20051227?hub=Canada T.O. shootings take city's 'innocence': Officer] , "CTV News", December 28 2005
* [http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20060113/court_appearance_060113/20060113?hub=TorontoHome Boxing Day shooting suspect declines bail] , "CTV News", January 13 2006
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060315/jane_creba_update_060315 Video of possible Creba shooting witness released] , "CTV News", March 15 2006