Hey Sam... very sad, and somewhat scary... I'm on my way to T.O. in a week and will be staying somewhat close to there... :S... stay safe, and hopefully these kids will realise that guns dont solve problems, they cause more...

This was a very sad day in TO.. It was a shock beyond all our imaginations! The entire city is shaken! eventhough for a city of this size, our crime-rate is of the lowest in the world, it still moved us all... gangs are a terrible plaque! Thanks for documenting this day... so we all remember!

Sad event. Thanks for the link to the story.

The fotos are great, though. The DOF in the 1st foto is fantastic! I like the scale of the tape in the 2nd foto, the colors, and both composition(s).

I think she was 19.

Glad you're safe...horrific thing this.

when i discuss guns with my students here in china, they are always quick to point out the gun violence that accompanies a society with liberal gun laws (in comparison to china where gun ownership is illegal)

hey sam, i thought about you man when i saw the sam the record store man on tv here in california, very sad incident indeed. great captures of a tragic and totally unnecessary situation.

That's brutal.

This past summer I was skating through that area. I was gonna swing down past the World's biggest bookstore, 'cept there was a huge mob, and choppers. I first tried to skate through the mob thinking there was some sort of sale or something until I saw a pool of blood. It was rigth in front of the Levi's store, just a few doors down.

Sad, very sad story.

Wow that made me think, captured the mood well.

A bunch of pretty crappy shooters as well, all of the victims were innocent bystanders.

Such a sad day, I couldn't believe it when I read the article that its the 52nd Gun related murder this year, I've visited Toronto 3 times and never found it to be intimidating in the slightest. And if I remember correctly "Sams Record store" is right in a busy area.
So Sad............

Joe (Scotland)

This makes me very sad--my city, my neighbourhood. I pray God will have mercy on the city. . .

As soon as I heard the news I knew you will post some pictures about it. There you go. I thought you might have been close to it, but never thought just a block away. What a tragedy. What a picture.

Powerful images... I was shocked to read about such a violent expression taking place in Toronto. I'm saddened for the families of those lost in this tragic shooting and can't help but feel pained by the current state (pun?) of our once great Canadian cities.

How stupid and wrong is this? Just pathetic how so few morons can ruin the reputation of a great city, and of an entire generation of youth.

It's more than sad, Sam. It is not to be tolerated and the gun culture has to go down asap. Thanks for recording this travesty.

It's sad that kids those days find interest in guns and crime.

I always pass by that area everytime I go downtown. It is very sad.

Sam, you've managed to still make this city look beautiful and dignified, even at such a low point. Thank you for capturing these painful images, and thank you for the captivating work you do year-round. I've become addicted to your amazing photos!

Too bad this type of thing is drifting to the great north.
I love it up there - I hope this is random and not the start of something larger. It sure is a huge problem here in Chicago.

Be safe.

I note the clever conjunction of tapes and signage that you've caught here in the first image.

The peace & love of the 60's with pot has turned to total turkey trash of today.

The root causes are deep in my opinion. When you find a million dollar condo will not be soundproof enough to keep out your neighbours noise, and no one in the housing industry cares as they enjoy the theft of lives they cause as they stuff their stinking pockets. Too many liars & thieves that are presented as honourable people. Current attitudes of law and order will never bring peace and tolerance to our world. These people never think about any law except their own - gun in hand. Jerks!

jesse> I'm not Canadian, but from what I see on Google, gun laws aren't *that* liberal (owners must be registered, anything below a long rifle cannot be imported...).

Anyway, I don't know wether this was intentional or not, but I like how the "Do not cross" line is tied to a "Pedestrians, start crossing" panel.

It looks so cold and sad. It has to do with the New Year or the Holidays, all people being at home and have nothing to do but think about money. Our news in San Deigo is kind of crazy too.

Excellent photos, although they tell a sad and shocking story.

This shooting definitely has to be the lowest point in TO's "Year of the Gun".

Thanks for sharing and bringing this important issue to everyone's attention.

i am so sad right now, and soo worried about my friend, but, i guess, those kind of things happens everywhere.
That's just sad that, not only Toronto but Canada, has lost its innocence.

Thanks for everything Sam.

don't let the b'stds grind us down, good people like you and i Sam will always win in the end.It takes courage to publish something so shocking and still fresh, your skill gives every picture a certain presence and beauty...keep going.

Very sad indeed. Photojournalism is many times a sad area of what we do. Today's image reflects the isolation, and perhaps the emotional emptiness that comes after such terrible events.
Well documented.

Yeah, I heard that she was 19 yrs old, too. Who goes out on Boxing Day with a gun in their pants anyways?

The girl was 15.

Here is a link to the Toronto Star report.

It is a very sad day in Toronto.

Great capture of the mood.

I like what you've done with the yellow 'do not cross' tape and the pedestrian crossing tape and button. The yellow works well and really stands out in this street.

This is sad, like all tragic events of its kind. I was not aware of toronto having such a low crime-rate.

Just read a bit about canada's crime rate and toronto as a city being one of the top cities in the world to live in.

This is very sad and you have documented it well.

She was only 15; early reports mistakenly said she was 19. She went to my old high school, and was friends with my friend's sister. Either way, she was far, far too young to go.

It proves once again young people tend to be dumb and reckless, not to say that adults are always smart either, but at least older shooters know where to draw the line and they aim better. I was just at that Future Shop an hour earlier. I don't think I would go back for a long time.

thats quite harrowing. as i have walked that pavement when I went to toronto in the summer. & i thought it was so safe. I loved it there. Very sad to see these images.

Sam...I have been visitng Toronto for over 30 years. I haven't been able to spend much time there in the past few years. I found your website a few days ago as a way to deal with my "homesickness" for my adopted second home.The pics are simply stunning and wonderful.

Today I am so very sad for these images...I always tell everyone what a miracle of a metropolis Toronto is....tolerant, safe, diverse...but above all, I have always loved Toronto for the people...the humanity and the humility of the place.

Stay safe everyone...and do not tolerate these shocking changes in your city...be outraged and vocal and protect the great gift of your city.

I wish you all the very best for 2006...

This is so sad, crazy sad.

Hello. This is definately an extremely sad event for teens everywhere. I am in highschool myself and I feel for everyone affected by this tragic event. Even worse, it had to happen right after christmas. Happy birthday Jesus...

Congrats on capturing the pedestrian crossing sign. You have a great eye, keep at it.

what's sad is that certain neighbourhoods in Toronto dont see a day without shots going off...this event has opened up the city eye to a much greater problem which was mostly isolated to a few communities.

i live on the ryerson university campus just down the street from the shooting. i also work about 3 stores down from where the shooting occured, at the le chateau on young and dundas.
this shooting has been extremely disturbing for me, to say the least.
i must say, great pictures though.

ps. i discovered your site yesterday and i've fallen in love

this is indeed a deplorable mishap that once agian we must remind ourselves the vulnerability of human lives. I shall pray for the poor souls.. esp the 15 yr old girl who has unfortunately lost her life while probably playing on the streets.

What a beautiful!
Nice work.

sounds like america, sadly!!!!

Depressing shot =( But very well done...

I used to tell visitors to walk down Yonge St at night to get an experience they can't get in the States. Don't know what the answer is. Thanks for your point of view.

I am a former resident of Toronto, now living in Rochester, NY. I still consider Toronto "my city" to a certain degree, and my son is in 4th year at U of T. I keep up with the news through the online newspaper editions and Bell ExpressVu.

Aside from the heavy sadness of this event (and others like it), this REALLY PISSES ME OFF. I want to scream out, "You will NOT do this to my city!" There should be righteous indignation ... combined with understanding and compassion, of course that energizes positive action to get to the root of the problems and make definite change.

Good captures, Sam. The photos are evocative.

I heard that her parents had to wait in the emergency room and the doctor told them that a girl died and it was PROBABLY their daughter. He couldnt let them in to see her until the police had finished their investigations there. Can you imagine being those parents?

Millions of calls were made to the hospital of worried mothers and fathers terrified that this was their child. In a way, it was their child. She was our child, our city's child. It could have happened to anyone.

Beautiful pictures Sam. Keep it up.

I'm a rather calm person, yet I feel completely outraged after this event. I guess I can take solace in the voracious response this has sparked in both community groups and the media. I look forward to making headway against the brutality that guns represent in this city.
My heart goes out to the family of the victims. This is a senseless tragedy.

I was looking at these pictures again and reading all the comments about it.
Well, it seems that everybody is against the gun crime and the tragic incidents like this. However, have we ever thought who is giving these teenagers and gangsters the guns? Have we ever thought who is getting the money for these bloods? Do we know who is responsible for making these kiling devices?
They do it on purpose and their aim is to ruin the society, doesn't matter where. I wish I could close down all those factories.
By the way, have you ever heard of a Military Factory being closed in order not to provide more guns for criminals? I haven't.

Toronto has always had shootings, in all the time I've lived there shootings are constantly on the news, but they are usually drug or gang related and out of the downtown core. This is the first time I've heard of one this bad downtown but maybe it was just a matter of time...

However, I still feel safer walking around Toronto than I do some European cities with almost no gun crime. I just hope this one incident doesn't change the city.

This is becoming all to common. I live in Vancouver, where the Lee Matasi shooting a few weeks ago got much attention. Two weeks after the killing of Matasi, the shooter is out on bail, living with his mother.

In Port Moody, a few months ago, a woman is watching TV - IN HER LIVING ROOM ! , and a stray bullet hits her in the head. WTF???

Now this young girl is out doing what 15 yr old girls do; shopping on boxing day, and she gets a bullet in the head. Nice country we're becoming.

Very depressing, and scarey.

This kind of thing happens 100 times a day in the US. I live in Denver and there are fatal shootings like this at least once a week. Whatever happened to solving disputes with a good old fashioned fist fight?