Pet saver defends his actions - "Tre Smith, an animal cruelty investigator for the Toronto Humane Society and former mall security guard, is not allowed to investigate animal cruelty complaints pending an investigation in which he handcuffed the owner of the dog to a car." [Toronto Star]

Thief stabs ticket taker, burns TTC booth - "A man with a dark hood over his head and a scarf covering his face approached the booth [at Lawrence West station] and doused it with a cup of gasoline, demanding the employee open the door. Fearing for his life, the collector opened the door and allowed the attacker inside the booth, police said." [Toronto Star]

Big trouble in little Downsview

I didn't pay much attention to the circling news helicopters for the first couple of hours, but when one of Toronto EMS's bus-sized ambulances pulled up in front of my apartment building, it seemed wise to investigate.

Dozens of police cruisers, the Emergency Task Force, several regular ambulances, one tactical ambulance, the aforementioned huge ambulance, four or more satellite news vans, two news choppers hovering and at least one small aircraft circling overhead make for an awfully busy scene just a block south of my home. The cause? A 'lockdown' at C.W. Jeffries, the neighbourhood public high school.

Apparently a 14-year old student was shot inside at 2:30pm, and later died at Sunnybrook. CityTV's News at Six had a couple of really tasteless video clips of the victim's mother (and others) screaming and collapsing outside the hospital when informed of his death.

Thankfully, it seems like it was 'only' a murder, rather than a spree shooter. There seems to be some confusion has to how a nearby indoor pool fits into the scenario, with The Star reporting that "police at first responded to what was initially reported as a drowning at a pool near the school."

Coverage a-plenty:

• ETF enters high school after fatal shotting at indoor pool [CityNews]
• Boy killed in school shooting [Toronto Star]
  
• Teen dies after Toronto school shooting [CBC]
• Student dies after being shot in Toronto school [CTV]
• Teen shot dead at Toronto high school [Globe and Mail]
• Toronto school in lockdown after shooting [Canada.com]

Ruffians to annoying kids listening to music on the TTC: use headphones, or get yourself stabbed. [CBC]

AOL News, of all places, has obtained two one-act plays allegedly written by Virginia Tech mass-murderer Cho Seung-Hui.

Woah

Officials: Gunman dead after bloody campus rampage - "At least 33 people, including a gunman, were killed Monday during shootings in a dorm and a building housing classrooms at Virginia Tech, university officials said... The killings mark the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, surpassing attacks at Columbine High School in 1999 and at the University of Texas in 1966" [CNN]

York U assaults on YouTube

A tale of two towers (and two landlords) - "At first glance, the state of 1011 Lansdowne doesn't seem unusual. It's a low-rent, badly designed building in a traditionally sketchy part of town, just north of Dupont Street. But then you notice that it is attached to another 23-storey tower: 730 St. Clarens Avenue [which] has none of the problems that plague its neighbour. The drastic difference between the two suggests the real issue with troubled buildings: It's not poor people, not immigrants, not gangs -- it's the landlord." [Globe and Mail]

The four-million dollar rat - "The RCMP paid a civilian informant more than $4 million to help execute the sting operation that brought down a group of alleged terrorists in Toronto last summer... including $900,000 for a new house, $250,000 for his parents, and $40,000 to cover his wife's dental bills." [Macleans]

TTC Driver Hurt As Brick Smashes Through Windshield - "The thrown projectile smashed the front window as the operator was driving along Sheppard, between Keele and Dufferin, at about 5:30am." [CityNews via BlogTO, also 680 News]

Reason #1,700 to raise the rates!

Mom took kids on coin laundry crime spree - "A Kitchener mother brought along two of her children while she and her boyfriend broke into apartment laundry rooms to steal money, a judge heard yesterday... The mother mainly played the role of lookout for the boyfriend who stole hundreds of dollars in coins from laundry rooms and vending machines last fall, court heard. All the mother got was money for groceries. She also has a 15-year-old daughter who is developmentally handicapped. The woman lives on a disability pension of about $1,700 a month for her and her three children." [KW Record]

That's about $20k each year for one adult and three children, one of whom is seriously handicapped. When push comes to shove, they'll have to raise money to live in just a fraction of human dignity somehow - so why not raise the rates, already!

"Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega will be released from prison on Sept. 9" [Toronto Star]

TTC driver faked bus hijacking? [Toronto Star]

Google map of Toronto grow-ops busted in '06 [Toronto Star]

TTC to introduce two-colour token to combat counterfeits [Spacing]