Toronto police said they believe a shooting that left one man dead in Etobicoke was “not a random attack.”
Police were dispatched to the Islington Avenue and Dixon Road area shortly before 3 p.m. after receiving separate but related reports about a two-vehicle collision and the sound of gunshots in the area on Thursday.
The shooting occurred outside an apartment building on Dixon Road just west of Islington Avenue, according to witnesses.
Paramedics said a male victim was located on scene with gunshot injuries and was rushed to a trauma centre via ambulance. The man succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
At the scene, Det. Sgt. Mike Patterson told CTV News Toronto the circumstances of the shooting were “very concerning.”
“We know that people would have seen something suspicious – someone running, someone getting into a vehicle – and that we can use to our advantage if they are willing to come forward and speak to us.”
Patterson added he believes the incident was targeted.
“We don’t feel that this is a random shooting so it’s not to be concerned that there is somebody running around shooting people.”
No information has been released about potential suspects in this incident at this point.
Police initially said that the driver of one of the vehicles involved in the collision was observed fleeing the area on foot, but Patterson later said information has led officers to believe that a suspect may have fled the scene in an undescribed vehicle.
On Thursday afternoon, a black Volkswagen Jetta with front-end damage could be seen in the parking lot outside the apartment building. The vehicle had its airbags deployed.
A witness told CP24 she saw paramedics performing CPR on a male near the Volkswagen before he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced.
“Investigators are trying to piece together exactly what happened and that takes some time, “Supt. Ron Taverner told CP24 at the scene. “They will be looking at video if there is any, talking to witnesses and generally just trying to decipher the scene.”
Taverner told CP24 that police are aware of the collision but “are not aware of” the circumstances surrounding it at this point.
