DOUBLE MURDER: Brazen daylight shooting leaves two dead in North York
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Two men in their 20s were killed Tuesday in an afternoon shooting at a North York townhouse complex.
When Toronto Police officers descended on the complex in the Driftwood Ave.-Jane St. area around 2:15 p.m., they found one victim who was pronounced dead, while a second man was rushed to a hospital where he later died.
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“Officers also located two firearms on scene,” said Senior Duty Insp. Todd Jocko, who spoke in a parking lot off of Driftwood, as neighbours with small children looked on.
He added it appears there was an “altercation” between two groups of people “and gunshots broke out.”
Jocko said suspects fled the area, adding police do not have positive identification for them.
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Investigating officers kept going to the back corner of what is described as “Courtyard 3” of the townhouse complex, looking around what looked to be a grey car, possibly a BMW, and into the corner area.
A large group of people were gathered behind a minivan at the rear entrance of the courtyard.
Insp. Jack Gurr described the double murder in the Driftwood community as “a very difficult situation.”
“Too know that two people were just killed here, just steps away from us, is a horrible thing.”
Mohammed, who lives in the neighbourhood, told reporters he was in the area when the shootout began.
“I didn’t count the shots, but I think I heard around five, six, seven — something like this,” said Mohammed. “People were then running and screaming.”
Mohammed added it’s “very tragic” as he looked at a woman who he believed knew one or both of the victims.
“I feel very sorry for the lady,” he said. “She was in a bad, bad situation looking at the guy. I guess he was pretty close to her.”
A couple of schools and a daycare in the area were put into lockdown.
This is the same area where two people were shot at a TTC bus shelter earlier in the year.
Add Boakye, 39, died in a Feb. 17 shooting as he was walking towards a bus shelter near Jane St. and Driftwood Ave. A 16-year-old boy was shot in the face the night before and suffered life-altering injuries.
Up until recently, Toronto Police had placed a command post vehicle in the parking lot of Driftwood Community Recreation Centre.
There was also a wild shootout between two groups of people at Chalkfarm Dr., just north of Wilson Ave. — near the scene of Tuesday’s murders — last Thursday, just after 11 p.m.
An 18-year-old man was wounded as more than 40 shots were fired. Police found a handgun in the lobby of a high-rise building.
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