A young man was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting that police are describing as targeted in North York, part of Toronto, according to CBC News. The violence unfolded late on a Friday night in a residential area, leaving one person dead and unsettling a neighbourhood where authorities have since moved to reassure residents in the aftermath of the attack.
The initial call brought officers to a specific corner of the city. According to CBC News, Toronto police responded to multiple 911 calls just after 11 p.m. near Jane Street and Sheppard Avenue West. When they arrived, they quickly located three male victims, all of them in their 20s, who were suffering from gunshot wounds at the scene of the shooting.
Efforts to save all three were not enough. According to CBC News, despite life-saving measures, a 22-year-old man identified as Abdi Hameen Aden was pronounced dead at the scene. His death turned the incident into a homicide investigation and became the focus of the police response that followed in the hours after the gunfire.
The two surviving victims were taken for urgent treatment. According to the account, the other two men were rushed to hospital with serious injuries in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Police said that both were later listed in stable condition, indicating that they were expected to survive the wounds they had sustained in the attack.
Investigators offered an early read on what may have happened. According to CBC News, police stressed that it was very early in their inquiry, but said it appears the shooting was targeted rather than random. The motive, they added, remains under investigation, leaving open the central question of why the three young men were attacked at that intersection.
In response, authorities have stepped up their visible presence and are seeking the public's help. According to CBC News, officers are being deployed across the neighbourhood to help ease the fears of local residents, while the homicide unit is urging anyone with information or dash cam footage from the scene, as well as from a Brampton vehicle fire, to come forward and contact police.