Vehicle damaged in Toronto's fourth towing-related shooting this week
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For the fourth time this week, gunfire has rocked Toronto’s towing industry.
The latest incident occurred Thursday around 10:10 p.m. when a shooting was reported in the East Mall and Queensway area.
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Toronto Police confirmed it was tow-truck related and said a firearm discharge damaged a vehicle but there were no injuries.
The suspect, described as a male in his 20s and wearing all black, fled in an unknown vehicle.
On Wednesday just before 10 p.m., evidence of gunfire was found out front of a tow yard in the area of the West Mall and the Queensway. No injuries were reported and police said the suspects fled in a vehicle.
These two shootings followed three people being wounded in two separate shootings tied to the towing industry that occurred an hour apart at opposite ends of the city Tuesday night.
In the first, around 10:20 p.m. at a tow yard on Glen Scarlett Rd. – near St. Clair Ave. W. and Weston Rd., one man in his 50s suffered life-threatening injuries while a second man in his 20s was wounded.
The shooter, or shooters, fled in a dark-coloured sedan, police said.
About an hour later, a tow truck driver was shot at a gas station near Lawrence Ave. E. and Warden Ave.
That victim – a man in his 20s – was rushed to hospital with serious injuries but Const. Viktor Sarudi said he is expected to survive.
The shooter in that incident also fled in a vehicle, but no further suspect or suspect vehicle descriptions were immediately available.
“It is to early in the investigation to determine if these incidents are related,” Sarudi said of the Tuesday shootings.
Toronto Police Deputy Chief Rob Johnson insisted Friday that “by and large that industry (towing) is very safe” and police are “pro-actively engaged in the enforcement of that industry.”
Johnson said so far this year, “the number of shootings and firearm discharges (related to tow truck industry) are 29% of our overall number.”
“But the good news is I think this year so far we’re seeing a 37% reduction (in shootings, firearm discharges) and our Integrated Gun and Gun Task Force, along with our pro-active frontline units, are tackling this issue to make sure that we dismantle, disrupt and arrest the criminals that are involved in this that are putting a slight on that industry,” he added.
In January, Toronto Police launched Project Dodger, an initiative aimed at addressing the rise in criminality and violence linked to the tow truck industry.
In 2024, 63 firearm discharge and shooting incidents were linked to tow truck-related disputes, accounting for almost 13% of all shootings in Toronto.
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