Man in life-threatening condition after shooting: Toronto Police

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First, it was an argument. Then a loud bang, followed by silence, before sirens came.

An early Wednesday morning shooting at 12:21 a.m. in a parking area behind a transition home at 9 Huntley St. west of Sherbourne St. and south of Isabella St. has the occupants and neighbours upset — but not surprised.

“There is always some conflict there,” said a man who didn’t want to be identified. “The yelling started again and the person started yelling call the cops, call the cops.”

The man said he heard and witnessed the aftermath from his apartment window, alongside a friend.

“There is a lot of drugs there, this alley here. There is always chaos or drugs,” he said.

The man said after the shot was fired he and a friend looked out the window and saw two women and a male he claimed might be the shooter flee the dimly lit parking area.

The area does have a lot of security cameras that monitor the street and alley.

Toronto Police said they were alerted to the parking area behind the former Casey House and found a man who’d been shot. He was transported to hospital via emergency run with life-threatening injuries. No other details were available.

A Toronto Police Forensic officer was on the scene for most of the day digitally mapping out the area.

In the parking area was a parked car, two motorcycles, an electric bike and quite a lot of debris.

Dave Smith, who also lives in the transition home, said he heard just “one shot” but nothing else until he heard sirens and police and paramedics arriving.

Rose, who lives across the street from the shooting area, said when she walks her dog at night, “there is a lot of late-night activity.”

“I have never experienced something like this before,” said Rose. “So it is surprising to know it happened right across the street.”

Over the past few decades, the area has been cleaned up of former vice crime and prostitution and become gentrified as it is neighbour to the St. Jamestown towers to the east.

A woman and two men could be seen injecting drugs on a grassy section of the sidewalk just before noon outside of the new Casey House facility, seemingly backing up the man’s comments about chaos and drugs in the area.

A Toronto Police bike crew showed up on scene after a special constable was alerted to what was going on.

The trio left before the police arrived, only to have one officer discard a needle and drug paraphernalia into a yellow needle drop box in front of Casey House.

No other details on the victim or suspect information was immediately provided.

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