Unidentified suspects still at large after 2 men slain in Riverdale shooting

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Two suspects are at large after two young men — either in their late teens or early 20s — were shot to death in a quiet Riverdale neighbourhood near Withrow Park.

Toronto Police homicide Det.-Sgt. Alan Bartlett would not say whether the two victims were shot inside a bullet-riddled, four-door Ford Edge SUV that sat parked on the north side on Bain Ave., west of Logan Ave., Wednesday morning as forensic officers dusted it for evidence.

Police responded to the area Tuesday night at about 11:15 p.m. after multiple calls and found the victims, one of whom was pronounced dead at the scene and the other after being transported to a hospital.

The passenger-side window of the SUV was blown out and six bullet holes, identified with police markers, were tightly grouped together under the passenger-side window. A seventh hole on the rear passenger-side door looked to be an exit hole.

When Bartlett was asked if it was a targeted shooting or an ambush, he said he wouldn’t “speculate” since the investigation had just commenced.

“I get the sense from the firearms evidence here that the shots appear to be clustered here, which might suggest a targeting,” said Bartlett. “And I don’t believe this was a random act.

“It’s very early for me to speculate and use the word target or ambush. I’m a little hesitant.”

Bartlett said he received information that two men were seen fleeing the area after the shooting through Withrow Park on the east side of Logan, but did not have a proper description.

The Toronto Police X account described two possible male suspects as being between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-8 and wearing dark clothing. They were last seen running toward Withrow Park.

A young woman in her early 30s walking through the north side of the housing co-op known as The Shire, built by the City of Toronto in 1913, said she heard the shooting and ran to the scene after it happened.

The young woman, with long pink nails, clutched her jacket tightly when talking about the gunshots and seeing the victims.

“It was pretty traumatic. Just (hearing) all the sirens and ambulances,” said the woman. “And somebody being worked on with CPR is just something I will not (want to see again).”

The young woman said she heard one of the victims yelling for help and the other being attended to with CPR. She said the victim being resuscitated wore a Nike-brand ski mask and “you really couldn’t see his face.

“The other person he was in, like, blue Adidas track pants,” said the woman.

“Honestly, I heard about seven, eight shots and they were consistent with no pause in between.”

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A neighbour, who only went by Mr. J and has lived in his apartment on the south side of Bain for the last 12 years, said after he heard the shots he looked out of his kitchen window, then went outside and could see “the driver laying on the sidewalk crying out for help.

“Then we noticed there was a passenger in the car slumped over,” he said.

Jose, who also lives in the south-side apartments on Bain, said he heard the gunfire erupt after 11 p.m. and a bullet went through his rear screen door and the window that leads into his bedroom area.

“I heard two huge blasts and it shattered one of the little windows on the back porch,” said Jose.

Jose wondered whether shots were fired back and forth between the victims and their attackers, but police would not say if that was the case.

On March 21, three young men were involved in an unrelated shooting incident at Strathcona and Jones Aves., which is east of the scene of Tuesday’s night’s double homicide.

Tuesday’s slayings were the ninth and 10th homicides of the year.

Anyone with information can contact the homicide unit at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.