One person dead, three injured in 'targeted' shooting at Vaughan, Ont. home: police

One person has died and three others are in hospital following a shooting at a home in the Woodbridge area in Vaughan.

York Regional Police said it happened around 9:30 a.m. at a home on Casa Nova Drive, near Davos Road, in the area of Major MacKenzie Drive and Weston Road.

One person was transported with life-threatening injuries, while two others were transported with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries after being found inside the home, police said.

One of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Early indications are that this incident is targeted and isolated, and that there is no immediate threat to the public," Const. Lisa Moskaluk told reporters outside the house Friday.

She said there was no information so far about the relationship between the people who were shot or who lived at the home.

"Obviously this is a busy street. That time of day it was just before nine o'clock so there would have been kids going to school and lots of people here walking in the area," Moskaluk said. "So we are appealing for anyone with any information to please reach out to our investigators."

Neighbours at the residence told CTV News Toronto that they were alarmed after hearing the gunfire.

One resident said that he initially heard 10 gunshots before a brief pause and then five-to-six more.

Another resident, who provided his last name only, said he was taking his sister to school at the time of the incident before another neighbour yelled at him to “get back into the house.” At that time, he saw an individual he thought was the suspect.

“He came walking down the driveway, hopped into this car, he through a u-turn right on this street here [and] drove right through where we’re standing and took off up Davo,” Lorenzo said.

This isn’t the first time that this home is believed to have been targeted. CP24 has learned that vehicles in the driveway of the home were set ablaze back on Christmas Day in December.

While police would not speak to that incident specifically, they did say any previous calls to the home will be taken into account by investigators as they work to determine what happened.

"Any other calls that may have been related to this house or any other incidents in this neighborhood will be something that all of our investigators that are currently working on this will look at," Moskaluk said. "That will be something that they'll try to piece together to determine what the motive was and why these people were targeted."

Police are now looking for at least one suspect, she said. There is no suspect description so far.

Images from scene showed a heavy police presence in the area, with officers going door-to-door to canvas neighbours. Yellow police tape cordoned off a stretch of the street as well.

Two schools in the area were briefly under hold-and-secure orders as a precaution while police responded to the shooting, but the order has since been lifted.

In a statement, Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca said it has been a "difficult week" for the community due to two "horrible incidents involving gun crime," referring to a fatal shooting which took place at Vaughan Mills shopping centre earlier in the week.

"I have been in touch regularly with York Regional Police throughout the week and I have every confidence that they are doing everything possible to keep our residents safe," Delo Duca said.

 

Police are shown at the scene of a shooting investigation in Vaughan on June 21. Four people were found in a home with gunshot wounds. (CP24)