Police probing whether spate of north end shootings are connected

Toronto police are probing a possible connection between a spate of shootings in the north end on Monday, but say it’s too soon to confirm a link.

The violence began Monday afternoon at around 3:50 p.m. when a 15-year-old boy was brazenly chased down and shot in the parking lot at Yorkgate Mall near Jane Street and Finch Avenue West.

Police released surveillance video of mall shooting on Friday. It shows the victim walking through the busy parking lot when a suspect jumps out of a car and begins chasing him. The suspect catches up to the teen and begins firing shots from a handgun, striking him once in the stomach.

Despite being hit, the teen manages to run away while the suspect, described only as a black male wearing dark clothing, flees westbound on Finch Ave W., in a dark four-door car.

The teen was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, but is now expected to survive.

Later that night, at around 7:45 p.m., police say gunmen opened fire at several random targets, hitting one in the stomach, in the Jamestown Crescent area.

In the first incident police say two gunmen jumped out of a vehicle near the eastern entrance of Jamestown Crescent from John Garland Boulevard and began firing at a man from a distance of about 25 feet. Luckily, he wasn’t hit.

The two men then returned to the vehicle, described as a black 2010-12 Chrysler 300, and continued westbound on Jamestown, spotting a 15-year-old boy and his younger sister.

Two gunmen leaned out of the vehicle and began firing in their direction as they tried to hide in a doorway. The teen boy was struck in the stomach and taken to a trauma centre with non life-threatening injuries.

Toronto police Constable Jenifferjit Sidhu noted the close proximity of the shootings, but said they haven’t been able to determine a link.

“We are not ruling it out,” she said. “We’re looking into it, but we have nothing to say (they are connected).”

On Thursday, Toronto police Supt. Ron Taverner said the Jamestown targets were innocent bystanders at the wrong place at the wrong time.

“This is a random shooting,” he stressed. “There was no individual that was targeted. It was just anybody.”

“(It’s) just a despicable crime. Just unbelievable that they just totally disregard life…”

The violence in the north GTA continued early Friday morning when a man was fatally shot in Markham.

York Regional police have identified the victim as Noel Williams, 27.

Police are seeking multiple suspects after the shooting at a residence on Hillwood Street in the area of Mccowan Road and Burr Oak Avenue.