Police have identified a 33-year-old Toronto man who was killed in a drive-by shooting in the city's north on Wednesday night.
Emergency crews were called around 9 p.m., to the area of Sidney Belsey Crescent and Weston Road, for reports of a shooting.
Police said that Abdikani Ismail was driving in a white SUV on Weston Road when an another vehicle pulled up beside it and someone opened fire.
When paramedics arrived on scene, they found a man in a bullet-riddled Jeep Grand Cherokee. The vehicle had crashed into a tree and came to a stop on the east side of Weston Road.
The jeep had at least five visible bullet holes in the passenger side, as well as a blown-out window.
Bullet holes can be seen in the SUV where a man was found with a gunshot wound. (CTV News Toronto)
The victim was transported to hospital but later died, police said.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday afternoon, Toronto Police Det. Sgt. Brandon Price said that investigators believe Ismail was targeted.
“We believe it was a targeted shooting,” Price told said. “I don’t believe this was a random act but it is still under investigation and I am not in apposition to fully confirm that.”
“We are certainly looking at all possibilities at this point.”
"It’s not safe anymore,” Jemar Ordinario, who lives in the area, told CTV News Toronto.
“I’m really frightened. Not only for myself, but for my kids. I feel like it’s not safe anymore to take my kids anywhere.”
Neighbours said the shooting is particularly alarming, given another man was shot nearby on Monday night. A 61-year-old man died in hospital after being shot in a parking lot near Weston Road and Highway 401.
“You don’t know if you are walking by and a stray bullet is going to catch you,” Sonya, who has lived in the area for 19 years, said.
Police have released this photo of 33-year-old Toronto resident Abdikani Ishmail. (Toronto Police Service handout)
“People in this part of the community, and other communities, feel like they’re in a prison,” area pastor, Reverend Delroy Sherman, told CTV News Toronto.
“They want to be outside with their grandchildren and their children having fun sitting out, it’s summertime now. And yet they told me they have to go inside the house, they don’t know if a stray bullet is going to come through their windows.”
Police said the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting was last seen heading south on Weston Road. Police say homicide investigators will be providing an update Thursday afternoon.
No arrests have been made.
