Toronto police are appealing to witnesses for help in finding the people involved in a daylight shooting in the Rexdale area described by police as “callous.”
The shooting took place at a Toronto Community Housing complex near Martin Grove Road and Finch Avenue West on Sunday, April 23.
At a news conference Tuesday, Supt. Ron Taverner said the shooting was captured by surveillance cameras and police are releasing the footage to help identify the suspect.
Taverner said that on the evening of the shooting, two men arrived in a red SUV and parked in front of 1811 Martin Grove Road. The men talked with several people who were hanging around in the area.
On the video, taken at around 6:07 p.m.that evening, the victim, wearing a bright orange jacket, is seen exiting the vehicle and speaking with the suspect. The two walk away from the group by themselves while chatting.
At one point the victim turns away from the suspect to retrieve something from a bag. At the same time, the suspect pulls out a firearm and the two try to shoot each other.
The victim falls to the ground, having been shot several times in the lower body area while the suspect flees into the surrounding housing complex.
Police said the other man from the SUV rushed to tend to the victim, who handed him what appears to be a handgun with an extended magazine. The man took the gun and put it back in the SUV and then helped the victim into the car before the vehicle took off in an unknown direction.
Then at 6:25 p.m. police got a second call to an underground parking garage at 345 Dixon Road, about a 10 minute drive away, about a male who had been shot.
Police determined that there was not in fact a shooting scene at that location, but they located a man suffering from gunshot wounds .
Taverner said the male victim in underground garage was determined to be the same victim from the Martin Grove Road scene. He was taken to hospital to be treated.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Taverner decried “the callousness of this particular crime – a Sunday night, on a fairly warm evening in April.” He said there were a number of people in the area, including children who were playing nearby.
“It’s just a callous disregard for life, for people – it’s very disturbing to us,” he said.
Area councillor Vincent Crisanti also spoke at the news conference and said that he’s disturbed by the shooting both as a local councillor and as a resident of the area.
“I’m a resident of this area, I have been for close to 35 years,” Crisanti said. “I raised my family here. We have a wonderful, beautiful community and when these incidents happen as callous as this was, as brazen as this was, it’s terribly concerning.
“It should be concerning to everyone but it angers me that this type of thing continues to happen. “
He said an innocent bystander could easily have been hurt in the shooting and urged those who know something about it to come forward and help “stop the craziness.”
Taverner said police are hoping that members of the public will come forward to help identify the involved parties on the footage.
“We’re going to be appealing for people to come forward and help us to identify the shooter in this incident and to help us locate the individual who retrieved the gun and eventually drove the victim to a location and dumped him,” Taverner said.
The shooting suspect is described as a black male in his early 20s with a light complexion. He stands between five-foot-eight and five-foot-ten with a heavy build. He has black braided hair and a thin beard.
Police are also looking for the driver of the SUV, identified as Liban Hussein, 22, of Toronto. Police say he is wanted for several outstanding firearm-related offences. He is described as a black male with a light complexion. He stands five-foot-ten and weighs around 220 pounds. He has short black hair and is clean-shaven.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-2306 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
