A 32-year-old man who died in the hospital after being gunned down while pumping gas at a station in Toronto’s Lytton Park neighbourhood earlier this month is being remembered by his family for his laugh and the way he lit up the room.
Nashwan Yonan had just pulled up at a Petro Canada location on Avenue Road, near Glencairn Avenue, after midnight on March 8 when he was ambushed by a masked suspect.
The gunman opened fire on Yonan, shattering his vehicle’s front windows and leaving numerous holes in the driver’s side door.
Nashwan was shot multiple times. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition but police confirmed Friday that he has since died of his injuries in hospital.
“He was fighting for his life,” the victim’s sister Angela Sade said.
Yonan was the youngest of nine siblings. His sisters tell CTV News Toronto that he came to Canada when he was four years old.
“(He was) the most pleasant person on the earth. Very, very happy all the time,” said Najwa Younan. “Our lives will never be the same again. Never the same.”
“He made everybody laugh,” Sade added.
Police said at least 14 shots were fired.
A handgun was later removed by forensic investigators from the front seat of the Jeep.
Yonan’s family said they don’t know why he would have had a gun or why someone would target him.
“He never told us anything. We never knew that his life was in danger,” Sade said.
Investigators believe the gunman parked his dark-coloured SUV nearby before walking up to Nashwan, but it was not in view of surveillance cameras installed at the gas station. The vehicle left a tire print behind during the getaway, which investigators were later seen making a cast of.
The suspect was last seen wearing dark clothing, gloves and a mask.
Toronto police are investigating the death as the city’s 16th homicide of 2019.
Anyone with information about the shooting is being asked to contact Toronto police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
