Police have identified a 37-year-old Toronto man as the victim of a deadly shooting in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood overnight.
Gunshots rang out near Yorkville Avenue and Bay Street at around 11:30 p.m.
Police told CP24 that when officers arrived on scene, they located a man, who has now been identified as 37-year-old Matthew Staikos, suffering from gunshot wounds.
Staikos was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators say the gunman fled the area in what has been described as a silver or grey four-door Mercedes.
The suspect vehicle was last seen heading southbound on Bay Street.
The suspect has been described by police as a black male with a medium build who is approximately five-foot-ten.
Police have not speculated on a possible motive in the shooting.
A post-mortem examination has been scheduled for Wednesday.
One witness told CP24 that he was first alerted to the shooting when he heard two “very loud” gunshots.
“I’ve heard gunshots before, the pop, pop, pop of gunshots, but this was a bang, a very loud, loud bang,” he said.
“I went and stepped out to take a look and I looked down the street… and he was lying on the ground on the corner there. When I walked over, there was blood flowing from his head.”
The Toronto Police Service’s homicide unit is leading the case and officers will be reviewing video surveillance footage in the area as part of their investigation.
Bay Street was closed between Cumberland Street and Yorkville Avenue for several hours following the shooting.
The incident comes one day after a 21-year-old Schulich business student was gunned down outside a high school in Malvern on Sunday night.
Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack called the recent spate of gun violence in the city “very concerning.”
“What we’ve seen since 2014 is a 145 per cent increase in shooting victims, 11 per cent increase over last year… Last year we had a record of almost 600 shooting victims in the city,” McCormack told CP24.
“It is something that is very concerning to us as an association, as a police service, and as citizens of Toronto.”
When asked about the recent homicides in Toronto at an unrelated news conference on Tuesday, Mayor John Tory assured residents that Toronto is a safe city.
“There is not a single violent crime that happens in this city at any time that I am not deeply troubled by but when you look at the overall situation with respect to crime, this remains one of the safest cities in the world,” Tory said.
“There continues to be a challenge in front of us with regard to the violent crime that does take place. It kind of comes in fits and starts, where you have some crime taking place as it has in the last few days.”
