Toronto's great tragedy

This city has been my home for more days, months and years than anyplace else. I spent my childhood in the backyards of North Toronto, my adolescence roaming around the Chum City building and the Eaton Centre, and since I started university I have spent much of my free time in and around Little Italy, the Entertainment District, Queen West and The Annex (to mention a few areas). Never in my life have I felt unsafe in my hometown. Sure, there have been incidents that have taken place in this city that have frightened me, shaken me up, but usually in places I rarely go to people I do not associate with at all. There are some areas of the city, Jane and Finch for example, that we tend to associate with gangs and gun violence and therefore aren't usually all that surprised to hear of another incident in that general area. However scary things have been up to this point in my life in other parts of the city I have never really felt at risk, never felt that I could find myself in harm's way or that I might lose a loved one to the sort of senseless violence that is sadly featuring on local news reports more frequently these days. This all changed for me, and I am sure for many others like myself, last week when Dylan Ellis and Oliver Martin were shot and killed outside of their friend's condominium on Richmond Street.

These two young men, both 25, came from a very good neighbourhood, weren't involved in anything that might get them into this kind of trouble, and yet they were both laid to rest this week. They had everything going for them and being in the wrong place at the wrong time tragically cut their lives short. But that's where things are really sad and scary. They were merely outside their friend's place waiting for him to come down to their car, they weren't doing anything wrong and there wasn't anything going on around them (that we know of) that would lead to such a horrible thing taking place. Evidently, the man who shot them rode away from the scene on a bicycle - what I want to know is why on earth does someone feel the need to carry a gun with them on a bicycle? Nothing about this makes sense, these boys died for absolutely no reason, and a week later the police don't seem to be any closer to having any idea who did this!

I am so angry and sad and terrified all at the same time. Friends that I have spoken to feel the same, and I think for the first time in recent years - while gun violence has been on the rise in Toronto - these deaths have hit home and there is nothing that can change the fear and anger that I feel in a place where I once felt nothing of the sort. These boys grew up in similar (albeit more affluent) surroundings to me. We went to school together (Dylan when I was 12, and Oliver in high school) and there is no doubt in my mind that their families and friends, just like my own, would never have expected something like this to happen to people like them. I know it sounds somewhat inappropriate to say things like, "This only happens at Jane and Finch", "These were rich white boys, this should never have happened" but the fact is this act of senseless violence was just so unbelievable! They were not a part of a community that is generally known for gun violence, fighting, etc. I admittedly don't know enough about the demographics of Toronto to make a valid and intellectual argument here, but I think it is fair to say that this should not have happened at all and the fact that it did happen, the fact that these two amazing boys are dead, the fact that the person responsible is still somewhere out there, not to mention the way that it happened, has shocked this entire city.

I have shed more than a few tears for Dylan and Oliver, but also for the loss of any sort of sense of safety that I had felt in my hometown. No, I won't stay home for fear of being caught in some sort of violent situation, but I am certainly much more conscious of where I am walking, who is around, and what sorts of body language I am conveying as I walk around the city.

These two deaths have really marked a turning point for this city. What kind of place has Toronto become when two people are shot dead in their parents' car outside of a friend's condo? What kind of world are we living in where people ride around on bicycles carrying guns? What are we supposed to feel and think about being out at night in a city with increasing incidents of gun violence. I wasn't so sure that the mayor's new gun control bills would pass when he first mentioned them, but I hope that this terrible event might convince some more of the city's residents of the need to make some changes.

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My thoughts and prayers are with the Ellis and Martin families, and to those whose lives were touched by these young men. Though I didn't know either of them as adults I have very fond memories of Dylan as a 12 year old and have many friends who speak very highly of Oliver during our high school years. May they both rest in peace.