16-year-old gunned down in doorway of his home
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Keyon Campbell was playing video games with friends when his mom asked him to warm up the car for her.It was late, about –10C and she wanted to drive the boys home.
Seconds later, the 16-year-old was gunned down in his doorway, car keys in hand.
Campbell stumbled back inside and collapsed in the hallway around 1:20 a.m. yesterday. His mother and aunt ran to his side and attempted CPR until an ambulance arrived at the townhouse complex on Empringham Dr. in the Morningside and Sheppard Aves. area.
He was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after.
Police believe it might be a case of mistaken identity. Or Campbell may have just been “in the wrong place at the wrong time,†Det. Hank Idsinga told a news conference yesterday afternoon.
Just last year, Campbell was featured in the documentary EMPz for Life – Empz is slang for Empringham — and the film was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. In it, Campbell is shown as an example of a boy on the right path, taking school seriously. He can be seen in the movie’s trailer on YouTube wearing a Blue Jays hat and dark sweater.
“I was just bugging him, telling him how he’s a movie star now,†said 17-year-old Julian Hope, one of Campbell’s lifelong friends. “I’m just in shock. I can’t believe this happened.%26quot;Campbell is the city’s 80th homicide; half of them have been shooting deaths. With four weeks left in the year, Toronto is on track to break its 1991 record of 89 homicides.
At the news conference, Idsinga made a plea for anyone who might have seen or heard something to contact police.
“It’s disgusting. It’s a terrifying thing,†Idsinga said. “Keyon Campbell was a young, 16-year-old boy, a bright student, employed, and an avid basketball player. The first person to find him was his mother, who is obviously devastated. Now, I’m asking the public to come forward with any information they may have.â€
Police spent most of yesterday steaming away piles of snow in search of evidence. The shots appear to have been fired from a northerly direction. Tracks left in the snow indicate the suspect initially fled the scene on foot.
“It’s too early to tell whether he was a target or whether he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,†Idsinga said, adding that there have been other recent shootings in the area. Police are investigating whether those incidents are related.
Brandii Boothe’s cellphone went off at 3 a.m. yesterday. A friend of hers, who lives three doors down from Campbell, heard shots and ran outside.
“ ‘Keyon’s dead,’ she said. I can’t stop crying. He was a good guy. He wasn’t bad. He hung out with some people who may have been bad influences — he always had his friends’ back — but he was a good guy. His mom loved him — he was her only child.â€
Boothe went to elementary school with Campbell. She lived on Empringham Dr. until 2 years ago.
“My brother was approaching the age where my mom didn’t want him to get into the drugs and the guns, so she moved us to Ajax,†Boothe said.
“Nowadays in Empringham, it’s not about fighting anymore. If someone’s got beef,they use guns.â€
A mother of four — one of whom is a boy the same age as Campbell — recently moved next door to the Campbells. “It’s terrifying. They’re scared. I’m scared. It’s just unbelievable,†she said. “I didn’t hear any shots, I just woke up with the police sirens.
Until this year, Campbell played competitive basketball, but after turning 16, he decided he wanted to buy a car so he got a job at a local fast-food store.
Police released a photo of a much-younger looking Campbell, proudly displaying a championship medal with his Scarborough Blues basketball team.
“(Keyon) was known to police, but he has no criminal convictions. Probably the only reason he is known to police is because he had to grow up in that area,†Idsinga said. “I’ll explain again, this is just a 16-year-old boy.â€
In 2005, there were also 80 homicides, 52 of them gun-related.
“I don’t know if we’re going to break the record, but I hope not,†Idsinga said.
Meanwhile, as a 20-year-old man remains in hospital in critical condition after being stabbed at Scarborough Town Centre Saturday, police have charged an 18-year-old with his attempted murder.
The victim was stabbed outside the Foot Locker store around 6:30 p.m. He was without vital signs when police and emergency crews arrived and was taken to Sunnybrook hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Police arrested Kareem King in a nearby Wal-Mart store shortly after the stabbing.
