Wednesday January 24, 2018
The details are perplexing. Five separate shootings over the span of two weeks in Etobicoke. Seven victims ranging in age from four to 47. One suspect, but no apparent motive.
A 20-year-old Brampton man is facing dozens of charges, including seven counts of attempted murder, in a case Toronto police are calling “mind-boggling.”
Supt. Ron Taverner said the frightening thing is the “randomness of it,” saying that this appeared to be someone “virtually terrorizing people in this area of the city.”
“There’s no links between the victims whatsoever, we have no motive,” he said. “As far as we’re aware, (the suspect) knew none of them . . . which is even more disturbing.”
Consistent descriptions of the suspect and a vehicle he was seen driving let police connect the dots early on and understand that they were looking for one person.
The first and the last shootings were both on Rathburn Rd., near The West Mall and Renforth Dr. respectively, only two minutes’ drive away from each other. The three shootings in between those two were all in the Finch Ave. W. and Islington Ave. area.
“Seven days a week we’ve been on this case,” Taverner said. “We recognize how dangerous this individual was. We knew we were dealing with someone who was a serial shooter. We were on it. On it big time.”
The shootings began on Jan. 9 when a man fired multiple shots at two teenagers standing in the hallway of a residential building. A 15-year-old girl was not hurt, while a 19-year-old man sustained non-life-threatening injuries, Taverner said.
One week later on Jan. 16, a 47-year-old man was standing on the sidewalk outside his home when police allege the accused walked up and shot him before fleeing the scene.
The next shooting took place five days later as a 20-year-old man was walking past a vehicle in which the accused was seated. Police said he came out of the car, allegedly shooting at the victim before driving away from the scene, leaving the man unharmed.
The following day, Taverner said a 35-year-old man and his four-year-old daughter were sitting in their vehicle after dropping someone off when they were attacked.
Taverner said the suspect came out of a nearby vehicle and fired multiple shots at the father and daughter “at close range” before fleeing. Luckily, both escaped injury.
One hour later, however, a 19-year-old man was less fortunate, police said. This final shooting on Jan. 21 was the most deadly: the victim sustained life-threatening injuries when the suspect drove up beside the man as he walked down the street, rolled down the window and allegedly opened fire. The man suffered life-threatening injuries and remains in hospital, Taverner said, although his condition has improved.
Of the five shootings, three resulted in injuries, but Taverner said it is “lucky that we’re not dealing with potentially seven homicides or more.”
And although four of the victims escaped bodily harm, physical wounds aren’t the only concern with these crimes.
“I think we have to keep in mind, even if (they) weren’t injured, put yourself in that perspective of (having) someone coming up and shooting at you. The psychological trauma that you’d suffer, from just that.”
Until forensic analysis is done on a firearm recovered in the investigation, they won’t be sure whether other weapons were involved, but Taverner says they “believe that was the gun that was used in all of (the shootings.)”
Although the number of confirmed shootings in January (as of this past Sunday) are at 28 compared to 18 at the same point last year, Taverner does not believe the public should be concerned about an overall rise. While one person committing five shootings alone is “unbelievable,” it does explain some of the rise in numbers.
Police are not disregarding the possibility that the accused may have been involved in other shootings.
“We can go about our business in investigating previous cases now and not be so concerned that this individual is going to be out shooting and possibly killing other people,” Taverner said. “The main focus for us was to arrest this individual and stop this crime spree. It’s so outrageous that this has happened, quite frankly.”
Adam Abdi, 20, of Brampton faces a total of 48 charges.
With files from The Canadian Press