“I’m not calling it random,” Toronto’s police chief said after a deadly shooting by a local Muslim whose family says he had been suffering from mental health issues throughout his life.
An 18-year-old woman and 10-year-old girl were killed in a shooting Sunday night in Toronto’s popular Greektown when Faisal Hussain, 29, carried out a mass shooting on a busy street packed with restaurants.
Thirteen people between the ages of 17 and 59 were wounded. Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said their injuries ranged from “minor to serious.”
“I’m not calling it random. This person was here and he definitely shot. I don’t know why he did what he did,” Saunders said.
“I’m keeping everything open, I’m looking at absolutely every single possible motive for this. When you have this many people struck by gunfire it’s a grave concern. I certainly want to find out exactly what it is, so I’m not closing any doors or any chapters on this and I certainly don’t want to speculate as well.”
The shooter’s family expressed sorrow for the victims, saying Hussain “had severe mental health challenges, struggling with psychosis and depression his entire life.”
However, while some of Hussain’s friends “said he was ‘not at all radical,’ others said he was more interested in Islamic discussions ‘when there were more people around,’” according to Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun.
“Hussain apparently had been spoken to by authorities about his online activities. Sources say Toronto Police, the OPP and the RCMP have all had an interest in the now-deceased shooter,” Warmington reported.