A man who was gunned down as he sat in a SUV in midtown Toronto Tuesday afternoon did have a criminal past, police sources have told CTV News.
Sukhvir Deo was fatally shot while sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle behind a building on Yonge Street south of Eglinton Avenue shortly before 3 p.m.
According to police sources, Deo moved to Toronto from Vancouver in 2013 with the intention of starting up a trucking company.
Police sources say that Deo was known to officers in British Columbia, where he was allegedly involved in the cocaine trade and had ties to the Independent Soldiers street gang.
According to public records, Deo was previously found guilty of five different offences in BC.
The convictions pertained to several vehicle-related offences as well as a 2002 charge for assault and a 2011 charge for resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
It is not known whether Deo was involved in any criminal activities in Toronto.
Last month, Deo was ejected from a Toronto Raptors playoff game after heckling a referee from his seat.
Police have released few details about Deo’s shooting at this point.
On Tuesday, however, police did say that they were searching for two black males who were seen fleeing the area in a black vehicle. One male was last seen wearing a green construction vest, the other an orange construction vest.
The suspects have been described as armed and dangerous.
