Witnesses sought after fatal incident at Jane & Lawrence

Investigators are asking for witnesses as they try to piece together what led to a fatal incident on Jane Street early Thursday, where a man was struck by a van after he was apparently involved in an altercation in the middle of the road.

The van ran over the man lying on Jane, south of Lawrence, around 1 a.m. Shortly before, an altercation broke out—police don’t know whether it was a robbery, an assault or a fight.

Abdirashid Guled—a 51-year-old married father—was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A post-mortem examination is scheduled for Friday.

Det. Sgt. Colin Greenaway said Guled was “lying motionless on the ground when the van ran him over.”

“It is still unknown what physical condition the victim was in prior to being struck by the van,” he said.

The victim’s boots and some articles of clothing were found littered on the road in the area. The driver of the van stayed at the scene and co-operated with police. He hasn’t been charged.

Detectives are now trying to track down the other person, or people, involved in the fray before the traffic accident.

“We do know there was a fair amount of cabbies that were parked across the road at this period of time,” Greenaway said.

There were also people gathered at the scene who left once officers arrived.

Investigators are poring over security video from area businesses to try to track down some of the cab drivers.

Police are also trying to confirm the man struck by the van is the same person involved in the altercation, but they believe that’s probably the case.

“It’s not 100 per cent,” Greenaway said. “They are very, very close in time.”

Toronto Police Traffic Services is calling Guled’s death the city’s 32nd traffic fatality of the year.

Anyone with information can call (416) 808-1900 or Crime Stoppers at (416) 222-TIPS.