A Montreal man is wanted after allegedly shooting a security guard who confronted him during an attempted jewelry store robbery at a North York mall on Tuesday morning.
The shooting occurred at Fairview Mall, located near Sheppard Avenue East and Don Mills Road, shortly after 10 a.m.
“It appears the suspect attended the mall just before opening with the intent of robbing a jewelry store,” Insp. Kristy Smith told reporters at the scene on Tuesday afternoon.
“As the suspect was fleeing, he was confronted by a member of the mall’s security team. During that interaction, the security guard was shot.”
Cellphone video captured after the shooting shows mall security and staff providing aid to the victim, who was grimacing in pain on the ground.
The security guard was shot in the midsection, Smith said, and was rushed to hospital in life-threatening condition. He is currently stable, she added.
“Our thoughts are with the victim who is a member of the mall security team and works closely with our officers on a regular basis,” Smith said.
In a news release on Tuesday afternoon, police said the suspect was spotted fleeing the mall in a black Honda Accord. Smith said he was last seen heading southbound on Don Mills Road.
He has been identified as 53-year-old Kyle Douglas Prouse of Montreal.
Police said Prouse has ties to Toronto and Vancouver and is wanted in a break-and-enter investigation in Durham Region in August 2023.
He has been described by police as a white male who was wearing a hood, grey pants, a blue baseball cap, a white medical mask, and black shoes. Police said there were flecks of white paint in his clothing.
Investigators believe the suspect acted alone.
“It appears that this was planned,” Smith said. “He attended at the time the mall was opening… right after the store opened.”
He took off with a quantity of jewelry, but Smith could not elaborate on the value of the stolen items.
The inspector said the interaction between the security guard and the suspect was “quick.”
A mall employee, 32-year-old Romal Patel, told CP24 he reviewed security video that partially captured the incident on Tuesday morning.
“I didn’t see him (the suspect) physically. He came in (with) a box and a duffel bag,” he told CP24.
He added that he heard a female voice scream, “I saw the gun,” before a shot rang out.
“I heard the shot, (a) loud bang, and saw the victim fall down,” Patel said.
Police are asking any witnesses, or anyone with video footage of the area at the time of the incident, to contact investigators or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
Smith confirmed the jewelry store has been the target of robberies in the past.
“We understand how concerning this is,” she said of the shooting, adding that there will be a heavy police presence in the area for some time.
