HUNTER: Man accused in Toronto vehicle attack was NCR on murder

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The Ontario Review Board slipped Edris Ghulami a pass.

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Ghulami, now 33, was deemed not criminally responsible for attempted murder after he shot up an apartment hallway with a Uzi submachine gun, narrowly missing two 9-year-old girls in 2017.

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It may have been an outrageous leap of faith for the do-gooders. He was committed to a mental health facility and, uh, fingers crossed.

Now, Ghulami has been charged with attempted murder after two people were hit by a vehicle in a North York parking lot following an argument on Wednesday night. Cops say the incident happened around 10:20 p.m. in the lot in the Don Mills Rd. and Gateway Blvd. area of Flemingdon Park.

“It’s absolutely outrageous that someone so violent can be released and then (allegedly) reoffend so soon, it’s the exact same offence,” a law enforcement source told the Toronto Sun.

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Cops say Wednesday’s incident stemmed from an alleged argument.

“One of the men got into his car and struck the other man with his car. Upon reversing his car, he struck a second man,” the police news release said. A man in his 50s was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, while a man in his 20s suffered minor injuries.

Ghulami was arrested and charged with attempted murder, two counts of assault with a weapon, mischief over $5,000, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm, and uttering threats.

He is, as they say, known to the police.

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On Monday, February 6, 2017, Ghulami was in the news.

The two 9-year-olds were playing in the hallway of their North York building in the Don Mills Rd.-Finch Ave. area. The young girls ran “for their lives” to escape the bullets, cops said at the time.

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Luckily, no one was injured, and emergency task force officers descended on the apartment building. At the scene, they arrested the then 25-year-old and seized a Norinco 320 Uzi 9mm-submachine gun.

Det. Andrew Lipkus told the Sun in 2017 that the bullets came from inside an apartment, barely missing the kids.

The children are “most certainly shaken,” he said. “They did run basically for their lives.”

Police accused Ghulami of trying to lure two responding officers into his 12th-floor apartment, and trying to shoot through the apartment door at people in the hallway.

Const. Amer Hussain said he and his partner, Const. Paul Frias, were first on scene and initially thought someone inside the bullet-riddled apartment was injured. They heard someone who “sounded like a victim, like someone who had been possibly shot,” Hussain said.

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They kicked down the door, only to find an apartment filled with gun smoke.

They heard a man talking to himself and “realized he was emotionally disturbed, because he wasn’t really responding to our questions,” said Hussain.

The suspect told cops he had a Uzi and was saying things “that weren’t making sense,” but also indicated he threw the gun out, Hussain alleged. Ghulami was charged with four counts of attempted murder. He had been wanted by cops for other offences.

“Why the hell is this guy even out?” one detective said Thursday. “He is definitely not good to go. Not good to go at all. This was the exact same set of circumstances.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-5500 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun

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