One Toronto neighbourhood is searching for answers after two back-to-back firearm incidents this month resulted in heavy police presence throughout the area, leading to polarizing discussions online regarding the community's safety. 

On Thursday, Feb. 8 just before 5 p.m., Toronto police received a call for a shooting at 30 Ordnance St. in Liberty Village. The male victim was located in the lobby of the building with apparent gunshot wounds, and subsequently transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

According to Toronto police Const. Victor Kwong, officers locked down many areas of the building during the search to ensure that no one was "walking around with a gun or that evidence was discarded." 

Kwong also said that police do not have any suspect information. Police were not able to recover any weapons or establish a motive for the shooting. 

Multiple police cars were seen parked outside of 30 Ordnance St. following the shooting. Photo: Supplied to blogTO.

Residents quickly took to a local Facebook page to discuss the incident, and criticized the lack of a suspect description, noting that there are many security cameras in and around the building that could have assisted in the investigation. 

"It seems wild that someone was shot in a modern building/area with tons of cameras and in two weeks the shooter hasn't been identified (not even a rough description)? Did police even confirm if the shooter is a suspected resident of the area?" one resident asked on Facebook. 

Just a few days later on Saturday, Feb. 17, multiple police cruisers were spotted outside 49 East Liberty St. Police reportedly responded to a suspicious incident call, and received information that four individuals were in an apartment handling a firearm. 

When officers arrived at the scene, one suspect fled by jumping onto a neighbouring balcony, discarded a firearm, and entered the neighbouring apartment. The remaining suspects in the original unit also discarded several items off the balcony. 

Police recovered a second firearm on the ground below the apartment, and luckily, no injuries were reported. During their investigation, police also seized a quantity of ammunition and drugs. 

As a result, three men and one woman were arrested and hit with an extensive list of charges, including possession of a prohibited weapon knowing it's prohibited, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a prohibited device or ammunition knowing its possession is prohibited, and possession for the purpose of trafficking. 

The accused include Berthland Da Costa, 28, Isaac Strafford, 25, Anas Ahmed, 27, and Kaitlyn St Pierre Lefebvre, 23. All four suspects appeared at the Toronto Regional Bail Court on Feb. 18.

Once again, residents poured into a local Facebook group to share their thoughts about the back-to-back security incidents, as well as their frustrations about the lack of information provided to the building's tenants. 

"The only thing I got was an extremely uninformative email from my building management," one resident wrote. 

"Do we as community members have a right to be informed when things like this are happening in our neighbourhood? Could we have been given better information that night rather than not knowing if we are in danger without compromising their work? There have been more incidents lately," another person said. 

"I mean it's pretty insane they threw two loaded firearms out and onto the ground floor and my building couldn't comment or care for the residents safety in the building and outside of it given guns were thrown off a balcony," one comment reads. 

"We need a community meeting with the police and our city councillor," another resident chimed in. "This once brilliant place to live is becoming a nightmare."

Liberty Village isn't the only Toronto community that's experienced an uptick in firearm-related incidents lately. On Friday evening, a 16-year-old boy waiting for a bus to get to his volleyball game near Jane Street and Driftwood Avenue was randomly shot in the face. 

The teen boy remains in hospital with significant and potentially life-altering injuries. 

Less than 24 hours later, 39-year-old husband and father of four, Adu Boakye, was walking past a bus shelter at the same intersection when he was shot several times and died in hospital. 

Police say both of the daylight shootings have "hallmarks of gang activity," and that the victims were "indiscriminately" shot despite being "completely and utterly innocent." Investigators added that neither of the victims had a relationship with the suspects or any links to gang-related activity. 

Investigators have since released a picture of a suspect, who is described as a Black male with a thin build, between the ages of 18 and 25, who was seen wearing a black coat, white hoodie, black pants and shoes, a black face covering and possibly a white surgical mask at the time of the shootings. 

According to Toronto Police Service data, there has been a 140 per cent rise in the number of shooting incidents so far in 2024, compared to the same period last year.