A Toronto father of two who was shot in the face in what he believes was a case of mistaken identity is speaking out after his townhouse complex was the site of gunfire over the weekend.
In an interview with CTV News Toronto, Edward Chikosa pointed to surgery scars where a bullet entered the left side of his face in mid-August, damaging his teeth and jaw but sparing his brain and spine.
“I consider this a miracle. It’s just a miracle that I’m still here,” Chikosa said.
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The shooting that injured Chikosa took place at around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 18 outside his townhouse complex at 55 Silverstone Drive, near Kipling and Finch avenues in North Etobicoke.
Chikosa believes the pair of gunmen picked him to target in a case of mistaken identity, shooting him on the lawn of the home he shares with his two kids and his mother before fleeing.
The home is located across the street from Highfield Junior Public School.
Chikosa, who works as a generator technician, said he was further rattled when his neighbour’s home was shot at on Sunday night.
Police have said that damage to a home was reported following the latest incident but no injuries were sustained.
Chikosa, however, is now calling out for a strategy by the police and the City of Toronto to make his street safer.
“This is traumatizing. Two times in just a month? Twice already. This is too much,” Chikosa said.
Victim was walking to work
Chikosa said he was walking from his home to go to work on Aug. 18 when he saw two people in a car on the street.
“Before I could say, ‘Good morning’, all I saw was two people that went this way,” he said, showing them pulling their shirts over their faces. “And they started shooting.“
Police said at the time they were hunting for two suspects who had their faces covered and were seen fleeing in a black SUV. Several shell casings were marked with evidence markers on the street and the sidewalk.
Chikosa’s 10-year-old son Junjun said he was woken up by the gunshots and thought they were fireworks before he looked outside.
“It was horrifying. Absolutely horrifying,” Junjun recalled. But he said he was able to make sure his uncle was aware of what happened, and told investigators what he knew.
“I told the detective that I heard I’m pretty sure four gunshots, might be five,” Junjun said.
Chikosa was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where doctors operated on his broken jaw. The bullet also knocked out several teeth, he said. He took several videos in the hospital, giving thumbs-up to family members who visited.
Shortly after he returned home, gunmen opened fire on the home next door.
Bullet holes could be seen in the doorway of the neighbouring home.
Police said they had no suspect information at this time and asked for anyone with information to contact them. In an exchange with CTV News, officers didn’t dispute that Chikosa was likely an innocent victim in the earlier shooting.
‘I’m a family man’
Chikosa says he’s not sure whether the people who opened fire on his neighbour’s home are the ones who shot him, or who the actual target is.
“I’m not a gangster. Never been one. Not an affiliate. I’m a family man with kids just trying to live a normal life,” Chikosa said in an interview outside his complex on Silverstone Drive recently.
Toronto Police statistics say shootings and firearm discharges in Toronto have been dropping from a high of 492 in 2019 to a 344 in 2023, then a spike to 462 in 2024, and then 263 in 2025.
Chikosa’s neighbourhood, described as Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown in police statistics, has had 6 shootings so far this year.
Council candidates for Ward 1 say violence like this shouldn’t be allowed to be thought of as normal.
“My heart is with the bystander. No one should be afraid to walk in their home or to pass their building. And not once, but twice?” said one candidate, Ala’a Adib.
She said she wanted to see an approach that made sure surveillance cameras were functioning in the area and also ensure that community centres were open on the weekends to be accessible to youth.
Another candidate, Chloe Brown, said she hoped to redirect money from the Toronto Police mounted unit to help kids in the neighbourhood be diverted away from organized crime.
“That particular corner of Toronto, we’ve been neglected in terms of getting the right resources to solve issues,” Brown said.
CTV News Toronto also reached out to Ward 1 Coun. Vince Crisanti for comment but has not yet heard back.
Chikosa says something drastic needs to be done and he doesn’t want to see the gunmen return a third time.
“This should be a state of emergency,” he said.
