‘Should have shot him a couple more times’: Ford congratulates person who shot alleged Ontario home invader
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford congratulated a homeowner who shot and injured an alleged home invader in Vaughan, Ont., this week, saying intruders “need to be shot.”
“Congratulations for shooting this guy — should have shot him a couple more times as far as I’m concerned,” Ford said, after being asked about the incident at an unrelated news conference Wednesday.
Ford went on in his response to attack the federal government for “going after legal, law-abiding gun owners,” as well as “weak-kneed judges” who are letting people out on bail. Police say the accused in this case was on probation at the time.
“They always want to protect the bad guys, the judges always want to protect the Charter rights — how about the charter of rights of the people, to keep them safe rather than always protecting these criminals,” Ford said. “I’m just sick and tired of it.”
Opposition NDP Leader Marit Stiles called Ford’s statement “very irresponsible nonsense” when speaking with reporters Wednesday morning.
“This premier has been premier of this province for eight long years now,” she said. “If people in Ontario feel less safe today, then that’s on him as the premier of this province.”
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner echoed those sentiments in a statement to CBC News.
“It is irresponsible for the Premier to be making comments encouraging violence or celebrating the loss of life,” he said. “He should focus on investing in measures that will make our province safer and empower first responders to do their jobs to serve and protect our communities.”
Video captures glimpse of incident
York Regional Police said earlier this week that no charges were being laid against the resident, who used a legally owned and properly stored gun during the incident.
According to investigators, officers responded just before 1 a.m. Tuesday to reports of a shooting at a home in the area of Carrville Woods Circle and Crimson Forest Drive, near Rutherford Road and Dufferin Street.
WATCH | Video shows intruders entering, leaving home in Vaughan, Ont., home invasion:
They say multiple suspects, allegedly armed with at least one firearm, forced their way into the home. The suspects were later seen getting into a black pickup truck and driving off.
A middle-aged man and an elderly woman were home at the time, police said, and no one living at the residence was injured.
Police released video linked to the case on Tuesday that shows masked suspects entering and leaving the home. Rapid gunfire can be heard as they run from the house to the truck.
Investigators say they later determined the man who was shot had been dropped off at a Toronto-area hospital shortly after the incident.
Man facing multiple charges
In a news release issued Wednesday, police said a 24-year-old man of no fixed address is now facing charges of robbery with a firearm and disguise with intent.
He was also charged with breaching a probation order. The man is currently in stable condition in hospital and remains in police custody, according to the news release.
Investigators say the accused is known to police and was wanted by multiple forces for “numerous violent offences.”
Court records reviewed by CBC News reveal the man previously led police on a high-speed chase through Mississauga on July 24, 2020, while driving a stolen truck with the owner’s eight-year-old daughter still inside.
Earlier that day the man and an accomplice had robbed a pharmacy, demanding cash and drugs. They then took off in a stolen Nissan Altima that police tracked to an underground parking garage, according to court documents.
The man then tried to escape police, this time carjacking a pickup truck. While the vehicle’s owner and some of his children managed to get out, his eight-year-old daughter did not.
The 24-year-old later testified he didn’t know the girl was in the vehicle while he led police on a chase going 100 to 120 km/h on “busy thoroughfares in downtown Mississauga on a Friday evening,” according to a judge’s sentencing decision.
He later discovered the girl was in the truck and stopped to let her out on a sidewalk, before eventually abandoning the truck and running off, court documents say. He turned himself in three months later.
A jury later found him guilty of robbery in connection with the carjacking and dangerous driving. He also pleaded guilty to multiple other charges, including robbing the pharmacy.
He was found not guilty of kidnapping.
