Danforth shootings leave some Torontonians wondering whether city is 'unravelling'

ForGeorge Bagenas,the deadly shootings inToronto's Greektown arejust the culmination of a city recently plagued by incomprehensible violence high-profile killingsthat seem to be coming at a regular rate.

"There's not a day in the week that goes by that you haven't heard about two, three or four shootings. Not a day," said Bagenas, where he tends bar at The Eton House, not far from the attack on the often-bustling DanforthAvenue.

"It's randomit's all over the city, all over Toronto," he said.

On Monday, all television sets at The Eton House were fixed on the news, as the few patrons inside were eager to hear any new information about Sunday night's brazen shootingthat left a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman, Reese Fallon, dead.

The attack hasonce againthrown Toronto back into the international spotlight,coming about three months after the city was rocked by a van attackthat killed 10 people and injured a dozen more.

'Almost inconceivable'

On Monday night, Toronto police said 16 people were shot in total, including the deceased gunman, who has been identified as 29-year-oldFaisalHussain. Video shows a man dressed in black clothes and a black hat firingfrom the sidewalk.

"It's almost inconceivable these kinds of things can happen," said Toronto Mayor John Tory shortly after the attack."We were so used to living in a city where these things didn't happen. And as we saw them going onin the world around us, we thought they didn'thappen herecouldn'tor shouldn't."

DespinaTsaoussis, a waitress at one of the nearby restaurants where the shooting took place, said she had just returned to Toronto five months ago after living in Greece.She said she was shocked that while living abroad, her home city was making international news.

"You would hear about differentparts of America andcrazy incidentslike this happening,shootingin schools, in public areas," she said. "In our minds, we had the feelingthat Toronto wasalways safe. But the last year, lot of things have been happening."

Toronto has also grabbed worldwide attention for the high-profile murders of billionaire couple Barry and Honey Sherman, and the arrest of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur, charged in the deaths of eight men, many who were linked to the city's gay village.

Meanwhile, other shootings in Toronto's public places the entertainment district, popular downtown destinationsand, perhaps most shockingly, a playground where two young sisterswere woundedhas put gun violence in the spotlight.

On Monday morning, city councillor and former deputy mayor Norm Kelly tweeted that he "can't believe the city Ilove is unravelling before my eyes because of the actions of a few sick people."

Bagenas, too,said this is notthe same Toronto where he grew up, where he wasn't afraid to walk the street at age 10.

"I won't let my daughter walk down the street," he said."Not by herself, no way."

And he said he doesn't believe putting more police officers on the road willsolve the problem.

"How'sthatgoingto stop a random guy from coming out of the blue, pull out a gun and start shooting random people," saidBagenas.

More than 200shootingsso far

But the mayor, decrying this recent act of violence asan unspeakable tragedy, said peopleshould still remain calm.

"We are very blessed to live in a very safe place and a very fortunate place in many respects," Torysaid.

Expertslike Jooyoung Lee, an associate professor of sociologyat the University of Toronto, agree.

"For a city of its size, Toronto is one of the twoor threesafest cities in North America," Lee told CBCNews earlier this month.

That'scold comfort to some in a city that has already recorded 228 shootings so far this year, 29 of them fatal.

"It's getting worse and worseeverybody knows it," said Tom Sotiriou,who has lived in Toronto for 58 years."You see how many shootings a day, for god's sakes?"

But others, like Tamsin Smith, wholives in the Danforth neighbourhood, said every major city has its problems and Toronto is no different.And despite some of the recent violence, she believes Toronto remains a safe city.

"It's just the magnitude of when these things do happen,it's larger scale and it just feels very personal," she said. "Because we are a friendly city and these things shouldn't happen here."

Lim Fong,who also lives in the neighbourhood, said he too has not changed his opinion of the city.

"I always said to my wife: 'Eventually this is goingto happen, thisis a bigcity.' And as far as bigcitiesgo, I feel this is as safe as it can get."