A man gunned down in North York this morning was on his way to the hospital with his newborn baby and a female companion when he was killed in a brazen drive-by shooting, Toronto police say.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, Insp. Paul Rinkoff said a man, a female, and their newborn child were walking to a parked vehicle in the area of Jane Street and Lawrence Avenue shortly after 9 a.m. when a vehicle pulled up and suspects opened fire.
“This family unit was in the process of getting into the vehicle to take their child to the hospital,” Rinkoff said.
The man was subsequently pronounced dead and the female and the child were not injured in the shooting.
The child, he said, is believed to be about a month old.
“This is a brazen daylight shooting. It’s horrific,” Rinkoff said at the scene. “This is the time of day when parents are taking their children to school, when people are going to work, when people are out exercising. This is not tolerated. The Toronto Police Service will not accept this type of activity.”
He said it is too early in the investigation to say whether the victim was the intended target of the shooting.
“It is a bit early in the investigation to tell if this was targeted and who exactly in the family unit was targeted,” he added.
Suspect descriptions have not been released but Rinkoff said two males were seen leaving the area in a late model sedan.
The vehicle, police say, was last seen heading eastbound.
Rinkoff could not confirm reports that the victim may have returned fire.
“In terms of whether there was an exchange of gunfire, that is going to form part of the investigation and investigators are looking into that. They are examining shell casing that are present right now,” he said.
There is a heavy police presence in the area and three schools were temporarily placed in lockdown following the incident.
“We have our forensic identification unit on scene conducting examinations,” Rinkoff said. “We have detectives on scene.”
Investigators are asking anyone who witnessed to the shooting to come forward.
“If you have any information, even if you think it might be insignificant, please contact our homicide unit,” Rinkoff said.
