Date of publication: 1 Apr 2022 • 10 hours ago • 2 minutes reading • 9 comments Flowers on the spot a day after a triple deadly collision along Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Superior Ave. – east of Royal York Rd. – at Mimico in Toronto, OD. on Friday, April 1, 2022. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk / Toronto Sun / Postmedia Network
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If not already tragic enough, the entire city mourns the fact that police say a driver who fatally hit two pedestrians before crashing and committing suicide has been banned federally from behind the wheel.
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Despite the ban, surveillance video shows him in three separate clashes involving speeding and a horrific massacre on Thursday night. First there was an incident in which a car swerved sideways about 2.5 km away on 8th Ave. And while the first responders tried to help what was described as a medical incident, the man boarded Cadillac’s luxury white SUV and headed east at high speed. Unsuspecting of what was coming were two people crossing the street and had no chance. They were both beaten in front of many people who were out during dinner time. The car did not brake at all and instead drove into the middle lane of the TTC tram tracks, passed a red light and crashed into a parked truck with a flat bed.
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“It was like a bullet,” said one witness. “It was shocking.” The driver and two pedestrians were killed. Sorry, but this video failed to load. Chaos also rocked the neighborhood. Friends say Kelly Hamilton, 43, and Ken Arkwell, 75, just did what everyone else does every day at Mimico. “It could have been anyone,” said Doug Lackey, who knew Kelly and Joanne’s mother. “It’s just catastrophic.” Friends have set up a GoFundMe account to help Kelly’s mother with funeral expenses. “Kelly was a young beautiful, smart, funny woman whose smile lit up the room,” Sabrina Szuszwalak wrote on GoFundMe. Kelly Hamilton, 43, was one of two pedestrians hit and killed by an SUV in Mimico on Thursday, March 31, 2022. Photo by Sabrina Szuszwalak / GoFundMe “She was loved by many and leaves behind her young children and countless families and friends who will miss her very much,” she adds. “All proceeds will be used to cover the funeral expenses as well as for her children who are now without their mother.”
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Meanwhile, people threw flowers on Friday at the spot, where 24 hours later debris from the crash was still appearing. Toronto police say the driver had both medical and criminal reasons for not being allowed to drive, but did not reveal his name or the circumstances that led to the vehicle being banned. Sorry, but this video failed to load. However, witnesses told the Toronto Sun that his shocked girlfriend was at the scene and told police it was her vehicle that was involved in the accident. He was taken by the police for questioning. And Sun sources have identified the dead driver as Omar Sinclair Frederick Downey – a 36-year-old with a long criminal record. The investigation is ongoing and the circumstances under which it caused the accident have not yet been revealed. But what we do know is that the deaths of Hamilton and Arkwell were utterly absurd. More work is needed to determine if anything could have prevented this tragedy. But whatever happens, it will be too late and will not help the families of two people who deserved better. [email protected]
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