A 26-year-old man is dead after being shot in the back as he walked to his car at a housing complex in the city’s west end Friday night.
It happened on Scarlettwood Court, in the area of Scarlett Road and Lawrence Avenue West at around 11:10 p.m. Toronto police said they received multiple 911 calls about gunfire.
Officers and paramedics arrived to find the male victim lying in the street without vital signs and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The victim was visiting friends in the complex and he was walking to his car at the time,” Det. Paul Worden told CP24. “He was approached by two suspects from behind who both opened fire on him, striking him in the back.”
Worden said the victim, identified Saturday as Nnamdi Ogba, was not known to police and the motive for the killing is not yet clear.
“It does look like these two suspects targeted the victim as he walked away, but until we know what the connection is between the two, if any, it’s really hard to say. Anything is possible at this point,” Worden said.
Witnesses told police they saw two people running northwards behind a building at 58 Waterton Road.
Yellow police tape cordoned off a large part of the street, including sidewalks, lawns and a playground as forensics officers gathered evidence at the scene Saturday morning.
Police were also seen towing away a vehicle, though it wasn’t clear if and how it was connected to the investigation.
Officers are canvassing the area to try and speak with anyone who witnessed the shooting or anyone who has any information about the murder.
Some neighbours told CP24 Saturday that the killing is the latest of a number of recent violent incidents in the neighbourhood.
“Unfortunately it’s an area known for some gang activity and there have been some murders and several shootings over the past few years,” Worden said. “We are getting very good cooperation from the community on this.”
Worden said police are particularly interested in speaking with anyone who might have video footage of the area from the time of the murder.
“There were a lot of cars parked on Scarlettwood Court last night and in the surrounding parking lots. If there are any dash-cams that were activated last night, if they can check their dash-cams from approximately 11 p.m. to about 11:30 p.m. last night and if they see anything that they think is suspicious – specifically two males running – we would appreciate that,” Worden said.
