A man was critically injured in a shootout at a gas station in the city’s Lytton Park neighbourhood early Friday morning.
It happened at a Petro Canada location on Avenue Road south of Glencairn Avenue at around 12:25 a.m.
Toronto police Insp. Jim Gotell said the male victim pulled up at the station and had just stepped out of his white Jeep to pump gas when he was approached by a masked suspect, who opened fire.
After sustaining multiple gunshot wounds, the victim collapsed to the ground, Gotell said.
At least 14 shots were fired, shattering both the driver’s side and front passenger side windows in his vehicle.
By Friday morning, numerous bullet holes were visible in the victim’s vehicle and on the island holding the gas pumps. Police placed evidence markers in a large area around the vehicle and pumps.
Blood stains were also visible on the outside of the driver’s side doors.
Police believe the victim returned gunfire, but it’s not known if the suspect was hit.
CP24’s cameras captured an officer removing a handgun from the front seat of the victim’s vehicle and carefully placing it in an evidence box at around 8 a.m.
The suspect is believed to have fled the scene in a dark-coloured SUV. Police have said that he was wearing dark clothing, gloves, and a mask, but no further description has been released.
Police acknowledged that there are surveillance cameras installed at the gas station; however it remains unclear whether that footage will offer any clues as to the identity of the suspect.
The gunman fled the area in an SUV, but not before leaving a tire print on the ground. Investigators were seen making a cast of the tire print late Friday morning.
For residents in the area, the sight of blood spatter at the local gas station left some unnerved.
“We don’t usually have anything like this year,” one passing resident said. “It’s definitely disturbing.”
