A homeowner in the Dufferin Street and Eglinton Avenue West area discovered and accidentally fired a loaded handgun Tuesday believed to have been used in a nearby homicide.
Det. Sgt. Joyce Schertzer said the loaded silver handgun was discovered in the area of Dufferin Street and Bowie Avenue when a resident was doing some cleaning of their yard on Tuesday.
It was so heavily corroded that it appeared to be inoperable, she added.
But as the homeowner picked it up, he accidentally fired off one round. Luckily it did not hit anyone, according to Schertzer.
The gun is believed to be one of two firearms used in the Apr. 21 murder of a 33-year-old Hamilton man, Leonard Pinnock.
That day, police say Pinnock drove a friend from Hamilton to the area of Bowie Avenue and Dufferin Street.
At 9:30 p.m., Pinnock was sitting in his car when two men slowly approached the driver’s side of his vehicle and fired at least five shots combined at extremely close range.
Pinnock was pronounced dead at the scene.
Both suspects then sprinted away. One of the two suspects wore a small dark messenger bag slung over his shoulder.
The pair of assailants approached Pinnock’s car in a “choreographed manner” and that the assault was “seemingly unprovoked,” Schertzer told reporters on Wednesday.
Prior, police released a 19 second video clip of the encounter online on May 25.
The messenger bag seen slung over the shoulder of one of the assailants was also recovered by the same property owner who discovered the gun, along with a black hooded sweatshirt.
Schertzer reiterated Wednesday that Pinnock was not known to police at all, and investigators are still not sure why he was targeted.
She urged anyone in the future who comes across discarded weapons on their property to call police to deal with them safely.
Anyone with information about the murder is asked to call homicide detectives at 416-808-7400.
