The suspect charged with first-degree murder in a shooting at a Scarborough underground parking garage used to live in the same apartment building as the victim, CTV News has learned.

Toronto police were called to the area of Sheppard Avenue East and Birchmount Road at around 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 30 for reports of a shooting.

When officers arrived, they located a man suffering from a gunshot wound, police said. Despite life-saving efforts, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

He has since been identified as 34-year-old Gars-Ara Kourjakian. He is the city’s 70th homicide victim of 2022.

Gars-Ara Kourjakian

Friends of the family told CTV News Toronto that Kourjakian’s five-year-old daughter was present at the time of the shooting, as he was taking off her winter boots before he was shot.

On Friday, police announced Devret Clarke, 37, of Toronto, had been charged with-first degree murder in connection with the shooting.

Sarkis Yildirim is a resident of the building where Kourjakian lived and says he knows the family well. He told CTV News Toronto that Clarke used to live in the unit next door, before moving out about a year and a half ago.

"[Clarke] was very rude with everybody in the building," said Yildirim. "He didn't like anybody in the building."

Yildirim says he remembers an argument between Kourjakian and Clarke sometime before Clarke moved out. Yildirim said Kourjakian's wife and daughter were in their apartment, which was just above Clarke's, and that Clarke could hear them making noise.

"I guess he couldn't take the noises and he was knocking on the door very hard. [Kourjakian’s] wife, she opened the door, [and] he started screaming and swearing and she got really scared," he explained.

“When [Kourjakian] came home, he found out, and I guess he went down and they were arguing. I remember that."

Residents of the apartment building called Kourjakian a good neighbour and a “friendly guy,” while others said Clarke was at times intimidating towards them, claiming there were a “bunch of red flags” when it came to his aggressive behaviour.

CTV News Toronto spoke with Clarke's lawyer but he declined to comment at this time. He is due back in court on Jan. 20.

---With files from CTV News Toronto’s Allison Hurst