WARMINGTON: If politicians can’t stop violence, maybe they should hand out body armor

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Perhaps it’s time someone running in one of these election campaigns promises to issue Kevlar vests to vulnerable citizens?

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Better make sure they are the kind that stop both bullets and blades. And make sure they are comfortable for driving a car, walking on the street, or even to wear to bed since violence can strike anywhere, anytime.

I’m not even being facetious. It’s wild what’s going on.

Saturday of the Victoria Day weekend shone a light on how troublesome things are. From a man being hit by a stray bullet while asleep as a result a nearby home invasion to numerous armed carjackings, to the stabbing of a man leaving a concert, to a woman being sliced ​​up near her building de ella — it’s out of control.

As my colleague Brad Hunter has pointed out, none of this violent crime has even been on the radar of candidates in the upcoming provincial or municipal elections. But it doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

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I’m still not over last month’s random ambush shooting murders of Indian foreign student Kartik Vasudev, 21, and Elijah Eleazar Mahepath, 35, and now the violent trend continues this holiday weekend.

Criminals carry guns and knives at will now.

For example, from a distance it looked like nothing more than a man asleep in his car in a parking lot near Finch Ave. W. and Westmore Dr. — in Rexdale –early Saturday. But when Toronto Police knocked on the window they noticed something.

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“He had a gun in his lap,” Const. David Hopkinson alleged.

That was just the beginning.

“There were other firearms located in the car,” Hopkinson alleged.

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This car had also allegedly been reported stolen and believed to have been involved in a collision earlier, so in addition to gun offenses the sleeping driver was hit with an impaired charge.

“This was a very dangerous situation,” said Hopkinson.

If not for brave police, who knows how this could have ended up?

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There were so many calls overnight Friday to Saturday that Hopkinson was literally run off his feet dealing with them all.

One of those disturbing calls was at 2:18 am at Grenoble Dr. and Vendome Pl. — southeast of Don Mills rd. and Eglinton Ave. E. — where he said a “woman was attacked by man” and “stabbed multiple times” suffering “life-altering injuries.”

Like other cases, the assailant got away.

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There seems to be a lot of people on edge right now. An example of that was early Saturday at Roanoke Rd. And Underhill Dr. — near Lawrence Ave. E. and the DVP — where a man allegedly threw a dog from a balcony to his death and then threatened to harm himself.

Police managed to talk the person down and charges were pending.

It shows the kind of difficult time this is.

As Toronto Maple Leaf star Mitch Marner found out last week, you just never know when dangerous, armed and violent criminals will be in your face.

If the politicians answer is for citizens to merely just wait like sitting ducks, I say no way. Do something.

Maybe it’s time to start sizing people up for body armor instead of just body bags?

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