Toronto police have arrested one man and are searching for two more suspects in the brazen playground shooting that sent two young sisters to hospital and sparked political tough talk over the issue of gun violence.

Markham resident Sheldon Eriya, 21, was charged Friday with seven offences, including two counts of attempted murder. He was denied bail and will appear in court again Thursday.

Eriya was arrested in Pickering. He also faces two counts of aggravated assault, discharging a firearm, possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of a crime, police said Saturday.

The victims — sisters who are 5 and 9 — are recovering from gun wounds to the stomach and ankle at Sick Kids hospital. Their parents asked for privacy Saturday, issuing a press release through a hospital spokesperson.

“We wish to send our thanks to the entire community for the outpouring of support during this crisis. The response has been overwhelming and we can’t express our gratitude enough,” the statement read.

“A very special thanks to the police officers and staff at 42 Division, Toronto Chief of Police Mark Saunders and Mayor John Tory for their tireless efforts and for working round the clock. At this time the focus is on recovery of the girls. We ask that you keep them in your prayers for a speedy recovery.”

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Mayor John Tory calls for swift justice in ‘despicable’ shooting of two girls in Scarborough

Speaking to reporters at City Hall on Saturday, Tory said the quick arrest should “serve notice to everybody else who carries a gun.”

“I sure think it’s time for us to be very aggressive in rounding these people up who carry these guns around,” he said, according to the CBC. “You are not going to terrorize this city, and you are not going to engage in this kind of anti-social, unacceptable behaviour.”

The girls were two of 11 children at the playground in Scarborough’s Alton Towers community when at least seven shots were fired Thursday about 5 p.m. Police said a man who was also at the playground was the intended target and that the gunman arrived by car, but walked to the playground and opened fire before fleeing.

Just hours after the shooting, the crime became political, with Toronto Police Association head Mike McCormack lashing out at Tory and Saunders over the issue of resources.

“I don’t want to be saying anymore, ‘Oh, our hearts and prayers are with the victims,’ ” he told the Star on Friday. “When will those 200 officers be on the street? That’s the question.”

McCormack was referring to 200 officers who are slated to be hired this year. In responding to the criticism and McCormack’s cries for “leadership,” Tory condemned what he called “the almost obscene haste” with which McCormack “moved to politicize this issue.”

The arrest — and fact that the suspect came from outside the McCowan Rd. and McNicoll Ave. neighbourhood where the shooting occurred — brought some relief to residents this weekend.

Anna Xavier has lived there for more than two decades and said she has watched many of the neighbourhood kids become parents themselves, so wasn’t surprised the accused wasn’t local. “We always walk around our neighbourhood freely, even at night time or any time, and we’re not scared,” she told the Canadian Press Saturday. “Something happens, and you think twice.”

Although the motive of the shooting or background of suspects is still unknown, the response to the shocking crime follows a familiar pattern, says Jooyoung Lee, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Toronto, who specializes in gun violence research.

“In the aftermath, police and politicians usually come and want to take a hard stance against this and they want to appear strong in the face of public safety threats, but the law and order approach is a very short term approach,” Lee said.

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“The thing that we see as having the most long-term effect in terms of reducing gun violence is what’s known as the public health approach … how we can create a society where those people who are potentially at risk of getting involved in a gang or in a dispute that could lead to a shooting are deterred in the first place.”

In calling for more police on the streets, McCormack did acknowledge that other factors such as socio-economic issues are important to address in tackling gun violence and crime. And that’s where Lee said he hopes the focus will be, moving forward.

“I would be looking for leaders to, on one hand, condemn this kind of violence, but to also say these kinds of shootings reveal the necessity of governments to … make a firm commitment to funding education in at-risk neighbourhoods or other safety nets, like affordable housing, health care, creating more mentoring opportunities,” he said. “It would involve a much more creative long-term approach, not one that is simply about let’s just arrest people and get more police out there.”