An apparent Good Samaritan is dead after he was shot by the driver of a stolen vehicle along Steeles Avenue on Friday afternoon.

A witness told CP24 that a black pickup truck was travelling east along Steeles Avenue near Alness Street at around 1:20 p.m. when it struck at least one construction worker before sideswiping a guardrail and slamming into a work truck.

The witness said that a group of construction workers then approached the pickup and attempted to pull the driver out of the vehicle.

However, the witness said that there was some sort of interaction and the driver appeared to fire three shots at one of the construction workers before the others were able to overpower him.

The victim was transported to hospital with multiple gunshot wounds following the incident. But he was pronounced dead later on Friday afternoon and the investigation has now been turned over to homicide detectives.

Speaking with reporters at the scene late Friday afternoon, Duty Insp. Michael Williams said that investigators believe the suspect was in a stolen vehicle and had attempted to flee the scene after crashing into the white work truck.

“Several citizens intervened and it is at that point that our male victim was shot by the suspect and sadly was pronounce deceased in hospital,” he said. “What we are asking for the public’s assistance with right now is for anyone who may have been in the area, whether it was at a business or if you were travelling on Steeles (Avenue), if you have any CCTV, dash cam video or actually witnessed it we would very much appreciate you contacting 32 Division.”

SIU has been contacted

Williams said that police believe the truck was stolen a short distance from the work site and may have been involved in another collision nearby, though that remains under investigation.

He said that the truck did hit one construction worker as it entered the site and that individual has since been taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The Special Investigations Unit has been contacted due to the nature of the interaction between the suspect and police but have not formally invoked their mandate at this time.

“It is still a very active investigation and a very complex and large scene. Members in this community can expect delays for some hours to come,” Williams said.

On Friday afternoon a path of destruction was visible along Steeles Avenue, including dozens of construction pylons that had been knocked over.

A black truck could also be seen wedged against a white cube van with a black handgun visible on the ground nearby.

The witness who spoke with CP24 said that she initially thought a drunk driver may have been behind the wheel of the truck but quickly realized something was amiss when it continued to travel at a high rate of speed as it entered the construction side.

“You don’t go 80 km/h into a construction site head-on,” she said.

The suspect was taken into custody by members of York Regional Police but the investigation has since been handed over to Toronto police.

The roadway is closed due to the police investigation.