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The senseless death of 16 year old Gabriel Magalhaes has galvanized this city.
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The teen’s murder Saturday night, allegedly at the hands of a complete stranger, has brought into focus the grave issues of crime, mental health care and homelessness facing our city.
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One headmaster of a boys’ school in Toronto sent the following email to the parents of his students — a letter that captures what so many are feeling in the wake of this tragedy:
“I wanted to write to you today, as — and I suspect it is the case with all of you, and all Torontonians — my day has been infused with a combination of shock, grief and outrage at the senseless murder of Gabriel Magalhaes, a 16-year-old boy, on Saturday evening at Keele subway station.
“We are Torontonians. We are parents. This senseless, unprovoked murder is personal.
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“I did not know this young man. I don’t know his family. Yet, like all of you, I grieve for them. We’ve all waited up late for our adolescent kids and dreaded with the deepest fear the knock on the door from Toronto Police Services. One mother in our city had to face that early on Sunday morning. Her loss is immeasurable, her grief surely overwhelming.
“As my colleagues and I gathered this morning to begin our day of professional work together, we paused to acknowledge this terrible loss. We have so many beautiful 16 year-olds in our lives at this school. We recognize how easily any one of them could have been sitting on that bench, at that subway station, on that night.
“As my colleagues and I shared together, the adults at Gabriel’s school loved him the way we love our students. His friends loved him the way our kids love each other. His school is mourning this terrible loss today, and they will take a long time to heal.
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“I will, of course, remind our students, again, of how to be as safe as possible on the subway. Independently making their way to and from school, and around the city on weekends, is a very important part of their adolescence. I’ll remind them to not travel alone; to keep their AirPods out of their ears; to stand away from the tracks; to not be so distracted by their phones.
“As I have before, I’ll remind them to pay attention to their ‘spidey-sense’ about people they perceive as creepy or unpredictable. I’ll remind them that it’s not rude to move away, change seats or change trains from people that, for any reason or no real reason at all, make them uncomfortable.
“Truthfully, I’m not sure any of this advice would have done anything to prevent the tragic loss of Gabriel.
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“I do not know what the answer is. I am a school principal, not a politician or a psychologist or social worker or urban planner. But I love kids and know what a senseless loss of a child does to a family and a community.
“Our city has a homelessness crisis and a mental health crisis and a security crisis on the subway system. The intersection points of these deficiencies cost a boy his life this weekend.
“It cost his family their son and brother, and it cost our city and all of us who live here some important, foundational piece of our belief about Toronto.
“We need to do better. Our children need to be safe.”
School principal captures city's grief over Gabriel Magalhaes' death - Toronto Sun
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