

Joshua Freeman, CP24.com





Area councillors and law enforcement officials are responding to growing concerns about violent crime on a stretch of Danforth Avenue.

On Wednesday a 28-year-old man was shot multiple times while walking on Danforth Avenue near Coxwell Avenue. A report from the scene said he was walking with a woman and a baby at the time. The man was rushed to hospital and is expected to survive.

However the incident has renewed concerns about violence in the area.

A total of 11 people have died over the past two years in stabbings, beating or shootings on or near Danforth Avenue, most between Woodbine and Greenwood avenues.

“It’s a little bit unsettling because you hear about it all the time and it’s a little bit scary – people being murdered where I live,” one area resident told CP24 Friday.

She said she hangs out in the neighbourhood less frequently because of the violence and would like to see more positive community spaces in the area.

Speaking with CP24 Friday, Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders said reducing violence in the neighbourhood requires a community approach.

“We look at the situation and then we look at what resources are necessary to keep communities safe and then we respond appropriately,” Saunders said. “It’s a two-way street as well. We need communities whenever there are situations happening in their neighbourhoods to give us a call and give us that information.”

He said investigations are like jigsaw puzzles and police need “every piece that we can (get).”

Coun. Mary-Margaret McMahon, who represents part of the area, released a statement Friday saying that she knows the community is concerned.

“There have been far too many violent acts committed in this community in recent years,” she said in a newsletter to her constituents. “They are not connected and they are not random, however they are justifiably causing concern among the entire Danforth community.”

McMahon said she went out into the community with 55 Division officers Thursday to speak with concerned residents.

“I know that despite this incident our community remains a very safe place to live. I am committed to working with community members, the police and my colleagues on council to make it even safer,” McMahon said.

Coun. Mary Fragedakis, who represents another portion of the area, said she thinks the neighbourhood is healthy overall, but has work to do to make it safer.

“We will probably never have no crime but we can make our neighbourhoods safer and more viable. It takes time and it involves a collaborative effort,” Fragedakis said in an email to CP24.

Fragedakis said she held a joint community meeting with Coun. Paula Fletcher in June and invited community members and various stakeholder groups to make a list of their concerns.

She said a working group is monitoring progress on each of the concerns.

Sophia, another resident who spoke with CP24 Friday, said that having grown up and worked in the neighbourhood, she thinks the violence is not the rule.

“I think it makes more people nervous about the area, but I think it’s still a good area,” she said. “It’s up and coming.”

@Josh_F is on Twitter. Remember for instant breaking news follow @cp24 on Twitter.