A man in his 30s is dead after being shot in an apparently targeted killing in Toronto's Corso Italia neighbourhood on Friday morning, Toronto police say.
At around 11:40 a.m., Toronto police received numerous calls for shots fired in the area of St. Clair Avenue West and St. Clarens Avenue, east of Earlscourt Park.
According to Toronto police, a shooter appears to have been “lying in wait” on a side street before firing several rounds and fleeing a vehicle.
“It appears that he was in a vehicle and he was the passenger in a vehicle on one of our side streets,” Duty Insp. Stacey Davis told reporters at the scene.
She said that when the victim got to his vehicle, one of the suspects exited the car on the side street and fired multiple rounds at the victim at close range.
The shooter then got back in the vehicle and the suspects fled in an unknown direction, police said.
Bystanders removed the victim from the car and started CPR before emergency responders arrived.
“When our officers arrived on scene, they attempted to provide life-saving measures. They did perform CPR. An ambulance also arrived on scene and tried to revive our male victim. However he was pronounced,” Davis said.
Paramedics said they assessed one person at the scene but did not transport anyone to hospital.
Police have identified the victim but are not yet releasing his name as some of his family members are still being notified, Davis said.
Multiple evidence markers could be seen strewn across St. Clair Avenue West Friday afternoon, along with a white GMC SUV police had taped off.
Earlier Const. Ed Parks told CP24 that there were reports of “multiple Individuals with firearms.”
Security camera footage from the area posted to Twitter by Toronto lawyer Selwyn Peters appears to show two armed suspects going up to the victim’s vehicle, firing shots and then fleeing.
Davis said there is currently no description of the shooter other than that he was a male in a hoodie. Police initially said the suspects fled in a four-door sedan, but there is no further description of the vehicle so far.
“As far as suspects go, we don’t know who the suspects are,” Davis said.
She said it’s clear that the shooting was targeted, but it’s not yet clear whether it is gang-related.
“Our officers are canvassing for video and witnesses so if anyone was in the area, if anyone has any dash-cam footage or did see anything, please contact police and if you don’t feel comfortable speaking with police, you can get in touch with Crime Stoppers,” Davis said.
Area roads were closed as police investigate the fatal shooting.
