I almost shot a police officer while on probation on a sunny May afternoon in 1994. I was 19 years old at the time and no longer a minor – my probation related to an offence from when I was a young offender. The night before, I returned home late after finishing a shift waiting on tables. I saw my mother as I entered the house. She mentioned that my dad had been attacked by a Chinatown gangster called “Brother Dragon”. I checked on my dad. He was lying in bed. I walked over to look at him, but as I approached he rolled away and covered himself with the blanket and mumbled that he was fine. I went to bed exhausted, but with a sense of anger that my father had apparently been attacked. I owned an illegal handgun at the time. The next morning before going to school, I packed my gun with me with the intention to go to Chinatown later that day to find Brother Dragon. However, when my classes finished that day, I realised that I had no viable plan. Toronto’s (downtown) Chinatown is a big place. Was I supposed to barge in to every…
