TORONTO, Canada (AFP)–Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute Monday to the victims of last week’s Toronto shooting, and attended the funeral of one of them — an 18-year-old girl.
Trudeau said he was moved by “the resilience and the strength” of Toronto residents in the wake of the tragedy, after laying a wreath at an improvised memorial to the victims.
The premier had earlier attended the funeral of Reese Fallon, 18, who had been set to start university for nursing in September. Julianna Kozis, 10, was laid to rest in a separate funeral service away from the public eye.
On the evening of Sunday, July 22, a man opened fire in a bustling avenue in the Canadian metropolis’s Greek quarter, killing Fallon and Kozis, and wounding 13 others.
The gunman, Faisal Hussain, a 29-year-old man who, according to his family, suffered from mental illness, was found dead after an exchange of gunfire with police.
“Our fundamental responsibilities as governments (is) to keep our citizens safe,” Trudeau commented.
“We’re looking at things that have been done around the world and other jurisdictions, looking at the best evidence, the best data to make the right decisions, to make sure that we are ensuring that our citizens, our communities are safe,” he said, without providing details.
After the shooting, Toronto Mayor John Tory called for stricter gun control, including a ban on handguns.
The continent’s fourth-largest metropolis by population, Toronto has recently seen a spate of gun violence.
According to crime statistics, there have been 233 shootings in Toronto so far this year that resulted in 30 deaths. Both figures are up slightly from last year.
© Agence France-Presse
