Man found fatally shot inside Scarborough Town Centre washroom

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A man in his 20s was found shot to death in a restroom inside the bustling Scarborough Town Centre on Thursday afternoon.

But Toronto Police are so far only saying the death of the victim — found in a public bathroom within the mall near McCowan Rd. and Hwy. 401 — is “suspicious.”

Someone went into the washroom and found the dead man and called 911 around 1:50 p.m.

Officers responded and police said the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

“To maintain the integrity of the investigation, the area that the crime happened was cordoned off and we have our forensic officers and divisional investigators and uniformed officers continuing a thorough investigation,” acting Insp. Baheer Sarvanandan told reporters gathered outside of the Scarborough Town Centre on Thursday afternoon.

He said the rest of the mall remained open while police conducted their investigation.

Homicide detectives have been “notified” and are “monitoring the investigation,” Sarvanandan said.

“At this point it’s a suspicious death,” he explained.

A firearm was located inside the washroom, but Sarvanandan said it was never deemed an “active shooting” and nobody reported hearing the sound of gunshots.

“This happened in a very confined space that no one knew, other than locating a deceased person in the family washroom,” he said.

However, Sarvanandan was quick to point out it was “potentially a single shot” that killed the man and it may have been “difficult to hear” in such  a busy mall.

He said forensic experts were “examining the immediate area and the surrounding area” and officers were also reviewing footage recorded by the mall’s many security cameras.

“So, based on that, we’ll find out what really transpired,” Sarvanandan added.

No further details were immediately available and no suspect description was released.

cdoucette@postmedia.com

jstevenson@postmedia.com