Toronto
Man with gun ‘arsenal’ is arrested for ‘random’ fatal shooting of Indian student outside Toronto subway
- Toronto Police arrested Richard Jonathan Edwin, 39, in connection to separate murders of an Indian student and a Toronto resident last week.
- The police found and seized Edwin’s "arsenal" of legally owned firearms, including rifles, handguns and loaded magazines.
- He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Indian international student Kartik Vasudev, 21, and Elijah Eleazar Mahepath, 35.
- They are investigating Edwin's background and are not labeling the separate incidents as hate crimes at this time.
- “It seems unlikely that these were just random crimes as police are saying,” Vasudev’s father Jitesh told The Indian Express. “The man murdered two people in a span of two days. There has to be a motive or a target and it does not come across as random.
Toronto Police arrested a suspect accused of two separate murders of an Indian student and a Toronto resident last week.
Richard Jonathan Edwin, 39, was arrested in a building by Bloor Street West and Spadina Avenue on Sunday evening. The police found and seized Edwin’s “arsenal” of legally owned firearms, including rifles, handguns and loaded magazines.
Indian student fatally shot outside Toronto subway in what family suspects is hate crime
- Kartik Vasudev, a 21-year-old international Indian student at Seneca College, was shot eight times at the Sherbourne subway station in Toronto while on his way to a part-time job on April 7.
- He was pronounced dead shortly after being rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital.
- The suspect, described as a 5’7” Black male, was last seen walking on Glen Road toward Howard Street. His motive remains unknown, but Vasudev’s family suspects the killing to be a hate crime.
- A vigil was held for Vasudev at Nathan Phillips Square on April 10.
- The Indian Consulate in Toronto is working to bring Vasudev’s body back to his family in India.
- His family has set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $75,000 to support his grieving parents.
An Indian international student, Kartik Vasudev, was murdered outside the Sherbourne subway station in Toronto last week.
A 21-year-old marketing management student at Seneca College, Vasudev was headed to his part-time job at a Mexican restaurant on April 7 when he was shot eight times at around 5:00 p.m. by a shooter who was described as a 5’7” Black male with a medium build.
Dismembered body discovered in garbage bag on Toronto sidewalk identified as missing woman Tien Ly
- Toronto Police officially identified on Wednesday a dismembered body found inside a garbage bag left near Eastern and Berkshire Avenues on Monday as Tien Ly, 46, the owner of the nail salon Beaute D’Amour.
- According to the police report, Ly was last seen by customers around 5 p.m. on Sunday.
- An employee of the salon said the business was still locked when he arrived for work on Monday and found Ly’s cellphone inside. The woman was reported missing on Tuesday.
- Authorities believe the person responsible for the murder used a collapsing shopping cart to move the remains. Police are now investigating the case as a homicide.
Warning: This article contains descriptions of violence some readers may find disturbing.
Police have identified remains found inside a garbage bag left on a Toronto sidewalk this week as those belonging to a missing woman.
Zoom meeting about U of T ‘hell banknotes’ incident interrupted by man with gun, racist messages
- Toronto Police are investigating recent reports about a man allegedly brandishing a large weapon on camera during a Zoom meeting for Asian students at the University of Toronto last week.
- The meeting was held for Asian students to provide a safe space for healing and support following the university’s “hell bank notes” incident during Lunar New Year. Students were reportedly given red envelopes containing “joss paper” that families use as burnt offerings for departed loved ones.
- Racist messages were reportedly left in the chatbox of the video conference.
- One of the meeting’s attendees allegedly appeared on camera for a “split second” and was seen brandishing a large weapon.
- “There was a white man turned [sic] on his camera and showed off his machine gun,” an unnamed witness recalled. “That machine gun was huge. It was like almost half of me, that tall.”
- The witness said she wanted to take a screenshot of the man, but she was frozen in fear. “We just didn’t know how to move because everyone was terrified.”
Toronto Police are investigating a recent alleged incident in which a Zoom meeting organized for Asian students at the University of Toronto last week was interrupted by racist messages and a man brandishing a machine gun on camera.
In a statement to the Toronto Star, Constable Caroline de Kloet said that she “[doesn’t] have any further information” regarding the incident since the Toronto Police Department is still “in the process of contacting “people who were involved.”
University of Toronto hands out ‘hell bank notes’ meant for deceased to students on Lunar New Year
- A graduate residence building at the University of Toronto mistakenly offered red envelopes of “hell money” meant for the deceased to its students during Lunar New Year.
- “Giving 冥币 (hell money) to a living person is a horrible act because you are conveying to the person that ‘You are dead to me’ or worse, ‘l wish you are dead,’" an Instagram meme account of the university explained.
- The Graduate House and the Governing Council of the University of Toronto apologized to its students after the “hell money” envelopes prompted online criticism.
A graduate dormitory at the University of Toronto offered red envelopes containing “hell money” meant for the deceased to its students during Lunar New Year.
The residence building placed a bowl of red envelopes on the front desk of the dormitory’s main entrance. But to the surprise of its residents, the pockets contained paper money with the words “Hell Bank Note” printed in English.
Asian passenger on Toronto train is bombarded with racist slurs, spit at by female rider
- A video of a woman unleashing a racist tirade against and spitting on an Asian public transit rider in Toronto has gained attention after being posted to Twitter on Wednesday.
- In the clip shared by Stop Asian Hate Canada, which is slightly under a minute and 30 seconds long, the woman screams racial slurs and tells the man to “get off the f*cking train.”
- The man retaliates against the verbal onslaught, yelling back, “I can defend myself!”
Stop Asian Hate Canada shared a video of a woman screaming racial slurs at an Asian passenger on a Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) train.
The video, which runs for a minute and 25 seconds, starts with the woman in close proximity to the Asian man as she confronts him while he leans against the doors of the train. “Get off the f*cking train!” she yells. “I said f*ck you!” the man yells back. “I can defend myself!”
Toronto bakery declare themselves #veryAsian after customer rejections deemed them not ‘normal’
- LA LA Bakeshop in Toronto taped a sign to their front door on Tuesday that reads, “Hi there! We are a #VeryAsian bakery,” after customers allegedly walked out of the bakery because it wasn’t a “normal” bakery.
- The staff posted their sign to their Instagram page on Wednesday in solidarity with the hashtag inspired by recent viewer criticism of news anchor Michelle Li as “being very Asian.”
- Li created the #VeryAsian hashtag after receiving backlash for sharing she enjoyed dumpling soup for New Year's and was told by a viewer who called in to complain that she should “keep her Asianness to herself.”
LA LA Bakeshop, a Vietnamese bakery in Toronto, is spreading the word that they’re “very Asian” after having people walk out upon realizing they’re not a “normal” bakery.
Their announcement on Instagram was inspired by the #VeryAsian hashtag started by news anchor Michelle Li.
Maskless Woman Goes on Racist ‘Kung Fu’ Attack on Drug Store Manager in Toronto
A woman who attacked a drug store manager with her own brand of kung fu is now known on the internet as “Martial Arts Karen.”
The incident, which was filmed by another customer, took place at a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Toronto this week.
Toronto Launches Campaign on How to Fight Racism Against East Asians
Toronto has launched a social media campaign that seeks to end racist acts against East Asian communities.
Since COVID-19 hit Canada, 26% of more than 600 incidents took place in Toronto, according to a national report published on Sept. 8.
Toronto ‘Karen’ Stalks Asian Woman for Simply Reading in a Park
A woman in Toronto took to social media to expose a racist encounter with another woman who allegedly accused her of “trespassing” before allegedly demanding that she “Go back to China.”
The incident, which was partially caught on camera, took place in the park of Hollywood Public School around Bayview and Sheppard Avenues on July 25.
Restaurant Server Fired for Calling Asian Customers ‘CHINA’
A restaurant server in Toronto is now out of work after referring to an Asian couple as “China” on their official receipt.
Tracey Yang and her boyfriend, who called it an act of racism, were the only Asian customers at the Working Dog Saloon in Scarborough before 2 p.m. on July 12.
Asian Canadian Woman Wearing Face Mask Kicked Out of Toronto Supermarket
A video emerged on March 17 showing a group of supermarket workers kicking out an Asian grocery shopper wearing a face mask and her friends.
The woman, who asked not to be named, was grocery shopping with two of her friends at the Metro supermarket on Danforth Avenue in Toronto, Canada, when she was overwhelmed by a group of supermarket workers telling her to leave. Eventually, the group was kicked out by a security guard.
