One person is in custody after a deadly shooting at a Rexdale apartment building but several other suspects are still at-large, investigators said Monday.
Police were called to the Toronto Community Housing building near Queens Plate Drive and Rexdale Boulevard, east of Woodbine Racetrack, at approximately 8 p.m. on Sunday for reports of a shooting.
Det. Sgt. Richard DiNino of the homicide and missing persons unit said 28-year-old Anthony Taylor was shot once in a hallway on the upper floors of the building and died at the scene.
DiNino said he’s unsure of the relationship between the suspect, a man in his 30s who was not identified, and Taylor, but said the shooting did not appear “random” and that it was preceded by “brief interaction.”
“I only had a brief opportunity to speak with his mother, his grandmother, his grandfather, his brother. They’re all devastated by his loss…They described he has a great love for cooking and he cared for his family and they loved him dearly,” DiNino explained.
Police didn’t say what charges the 30-year-old suspect is facing.
DiNino wouldn’t say how many suspects he believes were involved in the shooting, but urged them to turn themselves in to police.
“Please do the right thing, contact legal counsel, and surrender yourself to police,” he said.
Incidents at building have ‘dramatically decreased’
Division 23 Supt. Ron Taverner spoke alongside DiNino and said that there have been a “number of issues” that took place at the building where the shooting occurred, but that those have “dramatically decreased” in recent years.
“We have neighborhood officers that attend that building very frequently, know a lot of the residents, and it’s that personal interaction that the officers are having that we feel is making a difference, not only in that building, but the buildings in that area,” he said.
DiNino said that residents can expect to see an increased police presence in the area as the homicide investigation continues.
