A 51-year-old man is facing 15 charges after a Toronto lawyer was shot multiple times in front of his office Tuesday.
Toronto police said the suspect, Grayson Delong, is facing an attempted murder charge as well as disguise with intent along with a number of fire-arm related charges.
The suspect, who was shot in an altercation involving police, remains in hospital.
More details have emerged about the brazen daylight shooting that took place in one of Toronto’s toniest neighbourhoods yesterday.
Sources have told CTV Toronto that Halton Regional Police followed a man to The Annex Tuesday afternoon and likely witnessed the shooting of a prominent criminal defence lawyer.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit confirmed Tuesday night that Halton officers were conducting surveillance in the area of Bedford Road and Bloor Street when the shooting occurred at around 3:30 p.m.
The man being followed was in a Honda Civic. He is now accused of pulling into a driveway on Bedford Avenue just as defence lawyer Randall Barrs was stepping out of his Mercedes.
Barrs was shot several times in the legs by a man witnesses described as wearing full construction garb.
“A guy dressed completely in a construction outfit – hat, construction vest – got out of the car and fired four to five shots at the lawyer, dropping him right away,” witness Peter Schilling told CTV Toronto.
Schilling watched as the 66-year-old victim tried to crawl to safety. The man wearing the construction outfit got back into a vehicle and allegedly fired one more shot towards the lawyer through his closed window, shattering the glass, Schilling said.
That’s when the witness saw plain-clothed police officers move in. One officer ran south on Bedford, firing shots at the Civic.
Schilling said that the officer and gunman fired at least “10 or 12 shots.”
“The whole thing took less than four minutes,” he said.
The man driving the Civic and the lawyer were both rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
The injured driver was identified by sources as Grayson Delong.
Sources tell CTV Toronto that Barrs did not know the suspect. Those same sources said that Halton Regional Police were following Delong on Tuesday in connection with a break and enter investigation that originated west of Toronto.
Toronto police are investigating the shooting of the lawyer while the SIU is now investigating the officer’s shooting of the suspected gunman.
The SIU investigates cases where civilians are seriously injured, killed or sexually assaulted in the presence of police.
SIU has cleared scene
Investigators with the SIU spent all of Tuesday night probing the shooting of the gunman and wrapped up their investigation at the scene shortly before 4 a.m.
Forensic investigators with the Toronto Police Service are now combing the scene for evidence.
A vehicle believed to have been driven by the suspect was also towed from the scene by Toronto police at around 5:45 a.m.
As well, police towed another vehicle with two visible bullet holes that had been parked outside the lawyer's office.
With files from CTV Toronto crime reporter Tamara Cherry
