Youth dies in toronto school shooting
Slain Toronto teen a 'good kid'
Thu May 24, 8:11 AM
Two Toronto filmmakers who grew up in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood - Mark Simms and Paul Nguyen - filmed Manners during a CBC documentary, Lost in the Struggle, that aired last fall about three men growing up in the area. Jordan's story never made the final cut, but the two got to know Manners and his mother, Lorraine Small.
Simms told CBC Newsworld in an interview Thursday that he met Manners at a York University gym when he noticed Manners and his friends regularly sneaking in to work out. Because it was summertime and he knew the teens had little to do, he let them in and taught them workout drills.
His mother is a well-known community leader who loves the neighbourhood "tremendously with all her heart," said Nguyen.She is also known for opening her door to troubled youth, he said. Jordan was "a good kid," said Simms. "A lot of values his mom had, Jordan had himself." His mother never locked the doors in her home, believing strongly that it was a safe neighbourhood, said Nguyen.
The two filmmakers defended the reputation of the Jane and Finch neighbourhood, with Simms saying it is not a "village of guns" as is often reported.
Police said Thursday morning they have no suspects and don't know the motive for the shooting. At least a dozen people have been interviewed by police and they expect to continue speaking to others throughout the day.Toronto police Chief Bill Blair hopes witnesses will come forward. "It's absolutely outrageous that such violence should occur in a school environment that is supposed to be safe for our children," Blair said.There were reports of a fight outside the school just before the shooting.
Shooting a 'catalyst'
A Toronto school board trustee is calling for a safety review of all the city's public schools in light of the tragedy. Toronto District School Board Trustee Stephnie Payne defended C.W. Jefferys as an "extremely safe" school with no history of violence."We have to look at all schools within the Toronto District School Board, not just the schools in the area of Jane and Finch, because this could happen in any school," said Payne, who lives in the area and has children attending the school.Teachers took some time Thursday to discuss changes in security that they'd like to see, such as locking school doors and using uniforms so outsiders could easily be identified."I think today is the catalyst for change at C.W. Jefferys," said Payne.
The high school was set to have security cameras installed within weeks, following in the footsteps of many schools in the area.Classes cancelled as students recall 'commotion'.Yellow police tape still surrounded the high school Thursday morning and much of the building remained closed. Classes were cancelled, but grief counsellors were on hand to talk with students in the cafeteria.
Early in the day, few of the school's 850 or so students had entered the building, with some commenting they feared returning.On the previous day, students had been locked inside their classrooms for more than four hours while police searched for the shooter and the gun.Vanessa Rejaram, a 15-year-old student, said the school had been locked down for four hours before she learned one of her schoolmates had died."It was real hectic inside the classroom, it was just commotion," she said.
Grade 10 student Anthony Schulz said that some students were scared that a gunman might be on a rampage in the school's corridors."We had a practice lockdown and it was for the Virginia Tech [shootings] so we were wondering if it was going to be something like that - someone imitating it," he said."I phoned my mom during class and my mom was crying - she couldn't believe that this was happening in our school."
After hours waiting outside the building, Anna Germain spotted her son being escorted out of the school by police and blew him a kiss. A few hours earlier, Germain encountered the mother of the victim."I ended up helping a woman earlier at the corner who was collapsing," she said. "I found out after ... that it was Jordan's mom, the poor boy who passed away."Two dozen online tributes sprang up on the Facebook networking site overnight in memory of the teen, who had just turned 15 last week.
Mayor calls for handgun ban
Toronto Mayor David Miller reacted to the shooting by calling for a ban on handguns."Guns exist to kill people. That's why they're made," he told CBC News Thursday morning, adding that if national governments fail to impose stricter controls, then cities will try.There were no other reported injuries during the shooting, although one girl was taken to hospital in shock.An autopsy was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Once again, another black youth dies thus fullfilling the dream of the enemy of curbing the black birth rate. The black community must understand that there is a very organised strategy behind black on black violence. Alhough these killings may seem senseless to us they are not; they are part of a concerted effort to keep black populations to a certain percentage in the West. That is why gangsta rap has been the number one music promoting black on black violence for the last 20 years. White music companies have made a mint from black on black violence. If Don Imus is now being punished it is not because he called some black women 'nappy headed ho's.' I believe that the mass killings which are on the increase (like the columbine massacres) among young white males is a consequence of rap music in the white community and perhaps it's the fear of this phenomenom growing why the powers that be want to stop to it. Black children must be taught that those who kill other black people are allies of our enemies and not our friends and should therefore not be protected by us.The black community needs to set up some internal system to punish these people.The victim, who was a distant cousin of mine, has shown the urgency of setting up this kind of blog whose objective is to help inform and educate our people whose lives continue to be governed by fantasy and superstition. If I can help save some black boys from death then it would have been worth starting this blog.