Dear John:

Youths charged in shooting death of Toronto teen
Last Updated: Monday, May 28, 2007 | 12:31 AM ET
CBC News
Two 17-year-old boys have been charged with first-degree murder in last
week's school shooting death of a Toronto teenager, police said Sunday.

Police said they made an arrest early Sunday when they raided the home of a
friend of one of the suspects while everyone there was still sleeping, CBC
News reported.

"They came in," the friend's mother said. "We just off the bed. . Everybody
was real frightened."

The teenager, whose name cannot be disclosed under the provisions of the
Youth Criminal Justice Act, is scheduled to appear Monday in a Toronto
court.

Later Sunday, police said another 17-year-old surrendered. Earlier in the
day, the teen's name and photograph were made public for several hours after
police were granted judicial authorization.

The victim, Jordan Manners, 15, was shot in the chest and killed Wednesday
at his high school, C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, near the Jane-Finch
corridor, an area of Toronto with a high crime rate.

Several hours after the first police raid, police arrested four other
people, three men and a woman, CBC News reported. Three of the four were
later released, but a man remains in custody.

Police declined to say whether his arrest was connected with Manners's
murder.

More details will be made public at a news conference on Monday, police
said.

A day after the school shooting, Ontario politicians urged the federal
government to get tough on handguns.

Politicians urge greater gun control

"We have seen too many shootings result in too many funerals for our young
people," Premier Dalton McGuinty wrote in an open letter to federal party
leaders, urging them to push through proposed criminal justice legislation
and implement a "real ban" on handguns.

The value of allowing handgun collections should be reconsidered, said
Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant.

Toronto Mayor David Miller called for an outright ban and recommended that
handgun regulation should become an international issue.

"We know that there [are] two sources of guns used in Toronto: One is guns
that are stolen from collectors, and the other is guns that come from the
U.S.," Miller said.

"The U.S. has to take some real steps, otherwise we're going to keep seeing
tragedies."

Handguns are already severely restricted in Canada, and a handgun registry
has been in force for more than 60 years.

Schools don't want metal detectors

The shooting also saw the finger of blame pointed at lax school security.

The Toronto District School Board doesn't plan to install metal detectors,
board assistant superintendent Donna Quan said Thursday.

Metal detectors aren't foolproof, and students can bypass them by taking
different doors, she said.

C.W. Jefferys is already on a list of Toronto schools scheduled to have
security cameras installed.

Of the 109 high schools in the Toronto District School Board, 65 have
security cameras.

Manners' friends and family gathered at a park near his home on Saturday to
pay tribute to the gifted arts student.

In addition to the music and food, there was also a small donation box to
raise funds for the boy's funeral.

A service is scheduled for Thursday at 11 a.m. at the Christian Centre
Church in Toronto.

with files from the Canadian Press

--

Popeye
"After all your whining, you said no.
You weaselled out. Again." -MfO
www.finalprotectivefire.com