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Canada's Lax Gun Laws Lead to Mass Shooting

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Turkeytop
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Canada's Lax Gun Laws Lead to Mass Shooting

Post by Turkeytop » Mon Dec 19, 2022 9:09 pm

Vaughan gunman kills five neighbours, including condo board members he faced in legal battles for years, police say


The killing of five people in a high-rise building north of Toronto on Sunday evening followed years of legal disputes between the suspected shooter and the condominium corporation that manages the property.

York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween confirmed Monday that the deceased shooter is 73-year-old Francesco Villi, a resident who had been accused for years of harassing neighbours and condo board members at the building in Vaughan.

Police were dispatched to the building, located near Jane Street and Rutherford Road, around 7:20 p.m. Sunday. When they arrived, there was a confrontation with the shooter in a hallway. A police officer shot and killed him.

Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, which probes all cases of police violence in the province, issued an update outside the building Monday.

Spokeswoman Kristy Denette said the shooter used a semi-automatic handgun. Neither the SIU or the police service could confirm if the gun was legally registered.

Chief MacSween, providing an update to reporters Monday afternoon, said three of the deceased were members of the condo board and that the victims were found in three different units on multiple floors of the building. Three men and two women were killed.

“Obviously that will be investigated thoroughly,” he said, adding that “it’s hard to say” at this time if the victims were targeted.

The coroner’s office is working to confirm the identities of the victims, Chief MacSween said.

A sixth victim, a 66-year-old woman, was injured and taken to hospital.

Mr. Villi, 73, lived in a first-floor apartment at the building at 9235 Jane Street.

According to court documents, there is a years-long long history of confrontations between Mr. Villi and neighbours at the condominium complex, where he was alleged to have been harassing residents including by taking photos of them and swearing at them.

An October, 2019, court order was issued against Mr. Villi prohibiting him from communicating with the condo board or condo employees. He was ordered to stop making video and audio recordings of them, and to remove posts from social media, where he had posted a variety of rants and escalating threats.

This fall the condo corporation initiated legal processes to request his incarceration and to force him to sell his unit. “In its motion, the condominium requests a term of imprisonment for Mr. Villi,” Justice Mary Vallee of Ontario Superior Court wrote in a Sept. 26, 2022, order.

But on Monday, one of the legal matters involving Mr. Villi and the condominium complex was stayed.

Global News, which attended at scheduled court hearing, reported that Justice Vallee said that “My information is that Mr. Villi passed away last night, so I hear there are other details about what happened that are in the media.”

nthony Cutrone, a board member of the condominium corporation, told The Globe and Mail that he heard that the shooter may have been trying to target past and present board members by coming to each of their units.

”From my understanding [the shooter] went through the building knocking on doors,” said Mr. Cutrone. “I feel guilty to be alive.”

He said the board hosted its annual Christmas party earlier this month and that Mr. Villi attended. ”He came. … We were cordial, he ate some food, and for a guy who hates the board, he seemed to enjoy the party and left.”

Court records show that on Sept. 13, 2021, Mr. Villi was found in contempt of court for ignoring undertakings to cease harassing residents of the building. He was ordered to pay $29,500 in costs. These court documents allege that at least two condo managers had quit as a result of Mr. Villi’s conduct, and that his behaviour had reached such an extreme level that it was “impeding the Condominium’s ability to manage itself.”

“Villi has shown that he is not capable of living according to the standards of the Condominium community,” the court documents said. “The Condominium submits the only resolution to this dispute is to order Villi to sell his condominium unit and move elsewhere as a penalty for his ongoing contempt.”

Building resident John Santoro said he opened the door of his unit Sunday night to see a pair of officers armed with rifles by the elevators.

“I did hear a commotion in the corridor,” he said, adding that police were going floor to floor as they responded to the shooting.

Santoro said the building was soon surrounded by police and emergency vehicles.

“The ambulances started rolling in … I saw body bags coming out, being loaded into ambulances,” he said. “We knew it was something very big.”

About 15 police cars and a large forensic identification truck remained outside the high-rise Monday morning. The main entrance to the building was taped off.

“It’s just shocking to be honest,” said Jordan Bennett, a building resident who went out to get food Sunday night and returned to find a heavy police presence at the building.

“I feel pretty safe here so I’m pretty shocked to hear something like this happened.”

Speaking to reporters Monday morning, Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca called the shooting a “horrific act” and offered condolences to the victims’ families.

“I know that we all sincerely hope for a speedy recovery for the individual who was wounded, who we believe is recovering,” Del Duca said.

“And I want to thank all of our brave first responders for the work that they did yesterday to secure what I know must have been a very difficult situation.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also expressed his shock at what happened.

“All of Ontario is thinking of the victims of this senseless violence and the family and friends grieving their loss,” he wrote on Twitter.

Police said their investigation is active and ongoing, while the SIU said six investigators, including two in forensics, have been assigned to probe the police response.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/ ... -shooting/

Vaughan ON is 1206 miles from Niceville

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