A 31-year-old man at the helm of a dramatic police pursuit on Highway 400 this morning allegedly shot his own brother before embarking on a spree of violent carjackings.
The waterfall of events started at 2 a.m. Wednesday on Hertzberg Gardens, a housing development near York University, where the suspect allegedly shot at his brother for unknown reasons.
Toronto Police Insp. Colin Greenaway told reporters that officers had identified a suspect at that point, but he had fled the area before they arrived.
At 5 a.m., a man allegedly stole a vehicle left running and unattended near 1280 Finch Avenue West.
Then, 45 minutes later, Greenaway says they believe the same man tried to carjack another vehicle in the same area but the occupant resisted and he left emptyhanded.
The same suspect then arrived at 160 Norfinch Drive, near Steeles Avenue, half an hour later.
There, he reportedly attempted to carjack the occupant of a vehicle but the driver resisted and the suspect fled.
Greenaway says the man then walked a short distance on the same street and attempted to carjack a second person but mechanical issues with the car prevented him from getting away.
The suspect’s carjacking spree came to a head mere minutes after.
Greenaway says the suspect approached two sisters sitting in a silver Honda Civic, still on Norfinch Drive. The driver was shot as she sat in the vehicle.
When Toronto police officers arrived on the street, Greenaway said the suspect opened fire while fleeing in the wounded woman’s vehicle.
“They made contact with the driver and the suspect, who immediately fled, went 100 metres south of that location, pulled his vehicle to the side of the road, stuck his arm out of the window and discharged a firearm in the direction of our police officers,” he said.
The officers were not injured.
As the suspect briefly stopped near Highway 88 and Highway 89, he allegedly fired at the same officers a second time.
“He had pulled over and the officers thought that he was getting out. As the officers were just about to get out of the car, he stopped, turned around, pointed his firearm out the window and discharged a firearm in the direction of the officers,” Greenaway said.
Again, the officers escaped injury.
The suspect then led numerous police cruisers on a high-speed chase down Highway 400 between Toronto and Orillia.
Video from the CTV News Chopper showed a chaotic scene with Toronto police and OPP cruisers lining the highway in pursuit of a silver Honda Civic.
At some point, Ontario Provincial Police deployed a spike belt near Memorial Avenue in Orillia.
The suspect eventually got out of the vehicle near Memorial Avenue and jumped a guardrail in an effort to evade the slew of officers.
“He did go down a slight ravine where he left a firearm and he fled across the highway,” OPP Staff Sgt. Peter Leon told CP24 earlier Wednesday. “At that point the OPP helicopter was in the air and did spot the individual as he crossed the northbound lanes of Highway 11 into the southbound lanes.”
The OPP helicopter directed officers on the ground to the suspect, who was apprehended and brought back across the highway to a waiting cruiser a shortly after.
A weapon allegedly discarded by the suspect was later located in a grassy area beside the highway by a police K-9 unit.
Sgt. Greenaway says it will be “quite a while” before police lay specific charges due to the series of events but said it will likely be a “cascade of charges.”
“He showed absolutely no remorse,” he said of the suspect’s arrest. “I was at the scene and he was very angered and belligerent.”
“Not in my 33 years (have I seen this), but it came to a positive conclusion,” he added.
A suspect identified as 31-year-old Toronto resident Kristian Jarvis is currently in custody with Toronto police – who say is he known to police.
Woman in hospital, officers recovering
The woman shot on Norfinch Drive was on her way to work when she was shot. She suffered serious injuries and was rushed to hospital for treatment.
The officers caught twice within gunfire are “doing very well,” Greenaway said.
“I can tell you that, at all times, my officers and myself felt that the tactical following was done in a safe manner and it did result in a safe apprehension of a person,” he said.
“I was in one of the back police vehicles and I wanted to make sure that all the officers and all the civilians were safe otherwise we would have discontinued that pursuit. It was done in a safe manner… all our lights and sirens were activated. I’d like to thank all the inhabitants of Ontario because everyone pulled over so we can make a tactical following until OPP with specialized equipment could help us take down this dangerous person.”
OPP cruiser collides with civilian vehicle
Video from the ordeal shows the suspect vehicle initially attempting to swerve out of the way of the spike belt, causing a collision between an OPP cruiser and a civilian vehicle.
“There was one civilian vehicle involved with an OPP vehicle in a collision. My understanding is that the OPP was in the process of trying to deploy a controlled tire deflation device,” Sgt. Leon said earlier. “The vehicle in question was being followed by police and made its way around that spike belt, and unfortunately a collision did occur.”
He said neither the officer nor civilian were injured in the rear-end crash but that it’s likely other vehicles were damaged or shot at during the pursuit.
Police urge anyone whose vehicle was involved in the incident to contact them or OPP.
Greenaway added that Ontario Provincial Police were “instrumental” in the day’s events.
Northbound Highway 11 was closed at Line 15 was closed for several hours as police combed the area for evidence. Most lanes reopened shortly before noon.
Saunders ‘concerned’ by events
Speaking to reporters at the initial scene in Black Creek this morning, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said investigators are trying to determine what sparked the event.
"It's never a good day whenever people are shooting at my officers. I'm very concerned," he said. "When you're shooting at officers, it raises the bar quite a bit. We will conduct our investigation to figure out what the causes of all this were."
