Files from Barrie 360
Ontario says it has launched a "critical incident review" of the province's supervised consumption sites after a woman was killed by a stray bullet in Toronto's east end last month.
Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones, says all sites are expected to comply with strict requirements and the review will start with the South Riverdale Community Health Centre near the scene of Karolina Huebner-Makurat's death.
Police have said the 44-year-old mother of two was walking in the Leslieville neighbourhood on July 7 when she was hit by a stray bullet after a physical altercation between three men resulted in shots being fired.
Three people are facing charges in her death, including 23-year-old SRCHC community worker Khalila Zara Mohammed who is charged with being an accessory after the fact and obstructing justice.
Twenty-year-old Ahmed Mustafa Ibrahim was also arrested and charged this week with manslaughter and robbery, while 32-year-old Damian Hudson was arrested last month and charged with second-degree murder.
None of the charges have been proven in court and Toronto police say they are still looking for a third suspect involved in the shooting.
Meanwhile, a proposed supervised consumption site (SCS) remains on the table in Barrie.
Health Canada approved an application from the Canadian Mental Health Association for the use of illegal drugs at a proposed SCS in September 2022.
In an interview with Barrie 360 in June of this year, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) said an application sent to the province to greenlight the facility is sitting on the desk of Ontario's health minister.
The site of the proposed SCS is 11 Innisfil Street.
The SMDHU said that in 2022, Barrie had the third-highest rate of opioid-related deaths among Ontario’s municipalities with a population of 100,000 or more.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2023.
