GANG CRIMES PROMPT CALL FOR STRONGER DRUG LAWS

A slew of gang-related violent crimes this weekend had Toronto's top
homicide officer renewing his call for stronger laws regulating drugs and
violent criminals.

"We clearly have an out-of-control underworld right now in this city," said
Staff Inspector Gary Ellis, unit commander for Toronto's homicide squad.

"This certainly wasn't Toronto's proudest weekend," he said, referring to
the three murders, 28 robberies and five home invasions that occurred
within the city's boundaries over the weekend.

The most recent incident happened in the early hours of yesterday morning
when a 40-year-old man was shot several times in the hallway outside his
fifth-floor apartment on Walmer Road, one block north of Bloor Street.

Neighbours called police who arrived to find the man badly wounded inside
his apartment. The man later died at Saint Michael's Hospital.

Police have not released the man's name, but neighbours say he was from the
Caribbean and lived alone. Like many other crimes on the weekend, Staff
Insp. Ellis said, the incident was likely drug-related.

He said the most distressing case of the weekend was the death of Derek Wah
Yan, the Scarborough man who was killed when a stray bullet came through
the wall of his home on Saturday.

He said while police have no suspects, there is good reason to believe that
the people who were involved in the shootings were part of a gang that may
have connections to the drug world.