A man has been found dead after a “disturbance” inside a North York residence Sunday morning, Toronto police say.
It happened on the fourth floor of a Toronto Community Housing apartment building in the Lawrence Heights neighbourhood, on Blossomfield Drive, near Lawrence Avenue West and William R. Allen Road, at around 8:20 a.m.
Speaking with the media at the scene on Sunday afternoon, Det. Sgt. Sanjeev Nair, of the Homicide and Missing Persons Unit, said officers arrived there and located a male with traumatic injuries inside a unit. It is not believed that he resided there, he said.
Nair would not clarify exactly what those injuries entail, only saying that there was a echo-tired response to this call, which is the highest priority emergency dispatch level used for life-threatening medical emergencies, one that triggers a simultaneous multi-agency response.
“Despite the best efforts of the first responders, the male was pronounced deceased on scene,” said Nair, who said they believe the victim is a man in his early 30s.
An autopsy is expected to be done on Monday.
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Nair said officers secured the scene and conducted a sweep of the area, rendering it safe for the public.
He added that the homicide unit has now taken courage of this investigation.
Several fled from unit, including suspect
Nair said several number of people fled from the unit where the incident occurred, including the suspect, in a northbound direction prior to police arrival.
There is no suspect description available at this time, however he said investigators are going over video footage and “it’s only going to be a matter of time before we have a good image of the suspect.”
“I am here today seeking the public’s assistance in helping us to both identify the victim as well as locating the suspect,” Nair said.
“Additionally, if there were any individuals in the area who may have seen the suspect flee the residential building in this area at around 8:19 a.m. please come forward. We will be working out of 32 Division for the foreseeable future.”
The detective sergeant is also asking anyone with knowledge of what happened inside the unit or any witnesses “to come forward and do the right thing.”
“To the suspect, I encourage them to speak with legal counsel and turn themselves in,” he said.
In a statement provided to CTV News Toronto, a spokesperson for Toronto Community Housing Corporation said staff are “focused on supporting and engaging with tenants impacted by this incident.”
“They will be in the community today and will remain there for as long as needed, working alongside the City’s Violence Intervention Support Unit (VISU). For more information about the investigation, we suggest reaching out to Toronto Police Services,” Robin Smith wrote in an email.
‘Disgusted and distraught’
Speaking with reporters near the scene, local Coun. Mike Colle said the community is “disgusted and distraught” by this incident, adding they feel “so awful that another person’s lost their life.”
“It must be devastating for the family, that’s for sure, and everybody who knew him,” Colle said.
Investigators have not confirmed at this point that Sunday’s homicide involved a firearm, however the Eglinton-Lawrence representative said he guarantees it was a shooting.
Colle went on to say that the city, police, Toronto Community Housing, and area residents and organizations have been “working very hard” in Lawrence Heights to curb gun violence, pointing to a mini-police station that opened in the area just six months ago.
He said as a result of those efforts there has been a “dramatic decrease” in crime in the neighbourhood.
“I was really dreading that this would happen because it’s been so good in the last five years, with one other incident. … The community has been doing so much work. The youth, the workers, all this work has been done, and then this shatters all the good work,” he said.
“It really makes me sick to my stomach, and I really feel so badly that these gun criminals would ruin a community that’s trying to rebuild and build for the future, and they come around and destroy everything.”
Colle wants stronger consequences for gun crimes
“This is another example of another death by gun. Unless people in Toronto and people across you know the GTA wake up and understand that these gun criminals do not fear consequences because they know if they commit a crime, they’re going to be out on bail in a week,” he said on Sunday afternoon.
“So unless there’s a consequence, unless there’s basically you know a minimum of 10 years of anybody committing any crime with a gun, 20 years if you kill somebody with a gun, that’s got to be the basic rule. No bail if you commit a crime. If you kill someone, minimum 20 years no bail, because they don’t fear the consequences.”
Colle added that police have told him that some suspects arrested and charged for gun crimes “basically laugh at the police because they say I’ll be out on bail.”
“So we can have all the programs and the support that we have here in Lawrence Heights. We’ve got great programs, recreation centres, but there’s the minority of criminals that feel that they can get away with killing someone with a gun,” he said.
