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But bystanders more at risk now By Peter Edwards. Toronto Star. It's been almost 15 years since masked hitmen walked up to gang leader Asau Tran at 3 20 a.m. in the Pot of Gold nightclub and opened fire. When the submachinegun fire stopped in the popular karaoke club on Dundas St. W. near Beverley St., Tran lay dead alongside his business associate Tony Pun and hostess Amy Liu. They were among the city's 89 homicide victims of 1991 - the worst year for homicides in Crime experts today take no comfort in the fact that there have been 10 fewer killings in "They (gang killers today) tend to shoot more and are less accurate when they do shoot," said Antonio Nicaso, a senior partner in the Soave Consulting Group and the author of several books on organized crime. Today's gangland killers are often far younger and more impulsive than the Pot of Gold gunmen, experts say. "It seems to me they're just randomly firing away," says Mike Davis, who was on the That makes them far more prone to hit bystanders, like the Boxing Day gunfire on Nicaso notes that as many as 15 people were involved in the Boxing Day gunfire, and yet no gang members were believed to be among the seven people who were hit by bullets. Particularly troubling for Nicaso are statistics that show 38 of the murders in 1991 - or 43 per cent - involved guns, compared with 33 of the city's 61 murders in 2001 - or 54 per cent. This year, 52 of the city's 78 murders - 67 per cent - involve guns. That's a 24 per cent increase from 1991 and Nicaso doesn't see things getting better soon. "The situation is getting worse," Nicaso says. "There has been an increase in gun-related murder since 1991.... For gun-related murder, this (2005) was the worst year." Police say gang violence accounts for most of this year's 52 shooting deaths. In 1991, 28 slayings - almost a third of the city's total - were blamed on gangs and the drug trade. It's believed Tran's murder was ordered in Another 1991 mob hit took the life of Giovanni Costa, a Thornhill man who was shot to death as he drove his car just a block from his While Costa wasn't involved in any criminal activity, police believe he was targeted for execution simply because he was related to major Mafia figures. That slaying involved careful decision-making and planning - both in No bystanders were injured - a sharp contrast to the Boxing Day shooting, when no intended victims were hit and seven bystanders were shot. Back in 1991, gangland killing was generally a last resort, after threats and mediation failed, Nicaso says. "When you start shooting, you attract a lot of attention from media and police," Nicaso says. "That's what old school organized crime wants to avoid. These people (new youth gangs), they enjoy all of this attention. "Definitely, they don't value life, including their own," Nicaso says. Nicaso's grim assessment is shared by Davis, who notes that gang attacks this year have taken place in schoolyards, crowded shopping areas and even at a funeral. "It's just so brazen," " However, statistics support the argument by Nicaso and Davis that guns have become relatively easy for youths to get on There were an average of 10 people per year shot dead in Ellis would like to know what has happened since 1991 to make a life of guns and gangs more attractive to "Focus the attention on those who make the rules," says Ellis. "What is it that they have been doing to make the streets and its allure more attractive to young kids?" Meanwhile, "Years ago, you'd have witnesses who'd come forward," "I think people are afraid to testify." Whatever has changed on "This didn't just occur overnight," |