Police say that they are looking into the possibility that a father of three who was gunned down outside his Etobicoke townhouse complex over the weekend may have been the victim of a random attack.
Dwayne Anthony Vidal, 31, was returning home at around 5:45 p.m. on Saturday when he parked his vehicle in a lot near his Mount Olive Drive townhouse complex.
According to Det. Sgt. Mike Carbone, surveillance footage shows Vidal getting out of his vehicle and walking towards his residence. The footage then shows a male suspect approaching him from the opposite direction and opening fire as he passes him by.
Vidal sustained multiple gunshot wounds as a result.
He was rushed to hospital in critical condition but later succumbed to his injuries.
“He (Vidal) is not known to us and the purpose of this conference is to appeal to witnesses to actually determine what the reason is (for the murder),” Carbone told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday. “We cannot rule it out, the possibility of it being a random attack.”
Suspect seen getting into awaiting vehicle
Carbone said that surveillance footage did capture the suspect arriving at the townhouse complex several minutes before Vidal returned home and walking around the entire premises.
He said that the footage then shows the suspect running away from the scene following the shooting and getting into the passenger seat of a white vehicle that was idling nearby.
“The complex is densely populated with lots of people, so I am hoping that this appeal will help us reach out to those folks who may have seen what happened,” Carbone said.
Victim often returned home at same time
Carbone said that Vidal had regular employment and therefore it was not unusual for him to be returning to the townhouse complex at that particular time of day.
He said that police have stepped up their presence in the community in the wake of the shooting and are doing whatever they possibly can to “help the community feel safe.”
Meanwhile, Carbone said that police will be looking into whether the shooting may be connected to street gangs that are believed to be operating in the neighbourhood.
“It is something we are going to be exploring. There is no doubt about it. But I am not going to comment any further on what gangs are running this neighbourhood,” he said.
Police have previously described the suspect as a black male who is approximately five-foot-nine to six-foot tall.
Carbone said that he has a pretty good idea of the make and model of the vehicle that the suspect fled the scene in but is not releasing that information out of concern that it would “taint” witness accounts.
“If anybody saw that vehicle or the driver of that vehicle they are to contact us directly,” he said.
