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.
“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.”
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.
A middle-aged man and an elderly woman were home at the time, police said, and no one living at home was injured.
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.
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 fleeing the scene.
Police released video of the incident on Tuesday that shows masked suspects entering and leaving the home. Rapid gunfire can be heard as they run from the home 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.
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, as he was out on probation for unrelated offences at the time, police said.
The man is in stable condition in hospital 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.”
In a social media statement posted Wednesday, Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca said he was thankful the homeowner wasn’t charged, considering this was an act of self-defence.
“We have seen far too many of these incidents involving individuals who were already known to police and out on release orders, highlighting a deeply broken bail system that is failing our communities,” he said.
