At least two suspects are wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of a 39-year-old man in Toronto’s Black Creek neighbourhood early Monday morning, Toronto police confirm.
Police say the man was outside of a building in the area of Shoreham Drive and Shoreham Court at around midnight when an unknown assailant approached him and repeatedly shot him in the back.
When emergency crews arrived, the victim was found unconscious and unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at the scene.
He has since been identified by police as 39-year-old Jibri Husani James of Toronto. James was a mechanic who was a father to two daughters and cared for his elderly parents.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Det. Jason Shankaran said while investigators are only searching for one shooter, police believe a second suspect drove the getaway vehicle.
Police have not provided suspect descriptions or a description of the vehicle.
Shankaran said police are currently combing through video surveillance footage in the area.
“We are utilizing our partners from Toronto Community Housing and they are being of assistance downloading video for us right now,” he said.
Shankaran would not say where James resided in the city but confirmed that he has friends and family who live in the neighbourhood where he was killed.
“I can’t say this victim was targeted for being who he was but I can say that it does appear that he was targeted for being in the neighbourhood he was,” the detective said.
Shankaran would not confirm if the shooting is believed to be gang-related or associated with some type of turf war.
“He has family that loves him a great deal and they are distraught. I know that the message they would want me to pass along is that their loved one was murdered today for no good reason.”
He appealed to members of the public to come forward with information.
“If you have any information whatsoever, no matter how seemingly insignificant, it could be very significant to us,” Shankaran said.
The incident comes less than 24 hours after another fatal shooting about one block away at Driftwood Avenue near Jane Street.
Shankaran noted that police have “no information or evidence” to suggest that the shootings are linked.
“Obviously the proximity, the location, the timing of the two incidents are going to be looked at and investigative teams from both homicides will be conferring with each other,” he added.
Multiple area residents told CP24 Monday that they are "scared" by the ongoing violence in their neighbourhood.
"It makes you feel unsafe. Especially if you have kids and you are travelling around at night. You don’t know if somebody is going to try to shoot somebody else and go off and hit a kid," one resident said. "It’s getting ridiculous."
Shankaran said officers at 31 Division will be out in the neighbourhood “tonight and every night from here on in” to make the community feel safe.
“The police, the members of 31 Division, are going to be here trying to allay the fears that community members would have,” he said.
“The police are here to keep people safe and that’s what we are going to keep trying to do.”
The detective said people around Toronto are “fed up” with the gun violence.
“We are all fed up with people getting senselessly gunned down in any neighbourhood whether it be here on Shoreham Court or in downtown Toronto,” he said. “I would say that every good citizen in this city is fed up with that.”