A 21-year-old Toronto woman is in custody after allegedly shooting a shotgun into another woman's chest during a dispute, also injuring a passing cyclist in the city's Moss Park neighbourhood.
Toronto police say that at about 1 a.m. on June 29, they were called to the corner of Shuter and George streets for a report of shots fired.
Investigators allege that a female motorist pulled up tothe intersection and got into a verbal altercation with a 21-year-old female victim who was standing on the sidewalk.
Det. Sgt. Scott Spratt said that witnesses told police the suspect and victim made eye contact and exchanged some words.
He said the pedestrian asked “what are you looking at?” and the driver replied: “What, do you know who I am?”
According to police,some more words were exchanged and then the motorist then got out of her car, pulled a shotgun out of the trunk and began to fire at the victim, striking her in the chest at close range.
A 69-year-old man who was riding by on his bike as the shooting occurred was struck in the arm.
Spratt said the shotgun contained birdshot, greatly raising the likelihood of multiple people being struck by tiny pellets.
“It spreads out and the farther it travels, the bigger the impact it has,”he said.
The female victim suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital,where she remains in serious condition. The cyclist suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Police said the suspect then put the gun back in her trunk and sped off.
On July 1 at about 3:35 a.m., officers executed search warrants on a car and a residence and located the suspect, who was later identified as 21-year-old Cassandra Beckett-Benjamin.
Officers said they recovered drugs, cash and drug paraphernalia during the search. Const. Jen Sidhu said no firearm was recovered in the search.
Beckett-Benjamin was charged with 10 offences including attempted murder, pointing a firearm, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
She appeared in court at Old City Hall on Saturday morning.
