The victim of a brazen daylight shooting in the parking lot of Sherway Gardens early Wednesday evening was one of four men convicted in the high profile 2004 shooting inside a sandwich shop that left an innocent bystander paralyzed, sources tell CTV News Toronto exclusively.
The victim of the Etobicoke shooting is 49-year-old Mark Peretz, sources confirmed to CTV News Toronto on Friday.
He was shot at around 7 p.m. Wednesday in the area outside a sporting goods store, suffering life-threatening injuries. Another man was taken to hospital with minor injuries caused by shattered glass.
Investigators with Toronto police major crimes unit would not confirm or deny to CTV News Toronto that Peretz was hit during the Etobcioke shooting saying that it’s part of the investigation.
Peretz was one of four men convicted in a shooting that took place at a California Sandwich shop on April 21, 2004.
The shooting left an innocent bystander Louise Russo, who was 45 years old at the time, paralyzed from the waist down.
At the time, police said the drive-by shooting was meant to target three men, a drug dealer and two body guards, who were waiting in line behind Russo at the sandwich shop.
The four men all pleaded guilty to the crime but a plea bargain was reached in 2006 that sparked controversy in the Ontario legislature. Opposition politicians at the time said it was an attempt to receive lighter sentences.
Despite the controversy, the judge accepted the plea bargain, sentencing three of the accused to nine years in prison and the fourth, who was responsible for pulling the trigger, to 10 years behind bars.
Peter Scarcella, Paris Christoforou and Peretz were released in April 2012 and Antonio Borrelli was eligible for release in December of the same year.
Russo family member – who did not want to be identified – told CTV News Toronto Friday they were not aware that Peretz was one of the victims at Sherway Gardens.
Police are continuing to search for the suspects involved in the Sherway Gardens shooting.
The two suspects involved, who were concealing their faces at the time, fled the scene in a black vehicle after the shooting, according to officials.
The vehicle was later located in Mississauga in the area of Hurontario Street and Queen Elizabeth Way. Police said the stolen vehicle was burned after it was abandoned.
Anyone with further information regarding the Etobicoke shooting is asked to call Toronto police.
