TTC posts $25K reward in Dupont subway shooting case

With few new leads,  police are working to track down a serial robber who shot a collector at Dupont subway station last February. According to the pattern of attacks, investigators fear they’re on the “eve” of another armed heist.

In an effort to generate new tips in the case, the TTC is offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. It’s the first time the transit commission has offered a cash reward.  

“I want this person taken off the streets,” commission CEO Andy Byford said at a news conference on Tuesday.

William Anderson, 52, was shot in the neck and shoulder on the evening of Feb. 26 after a bandit armed with a revolver demanded cash.  When Anderson refused to hand over the money, the suspect walked away, then turned and fired three rounds.

Police believe the same suspect, who could be a man or woman, is responsible for two other armed heists at the same subway station. The suspect is described as white, with a stout build.

The attacks were all four months apart and all happened between 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. In each heist, the suspect held a revolver-type handgun in their left hand. The first happened on June 11, 2011 and the second occurred on Oct. 2, 2011. In both cases the bandit got away with a small amount of cash.  The third hold-up on Feb. 26 ended in gunfire.

“We are on the eve of the fourth month, which gives us great concern,” Staff-Insp. Mike Earl of the hold-up squad said Tuesday, after admitting leads in the “bizarre” case have “dried up.”

Investigators are hoping the reward generates new tips, but they’re particularly interested in speaking with a man who chased the suspect out of the station the night of the shooting and followed them to a silver, four-door car. The suspect then sped off up Spadina Road.

That witness told another person at the scene about the chase and that second person told police.

Anderson underwent surgery and has physically recovered, but Byford said the trauma of the attack has left him unable to return to work right now.

“For obvious reasons, he’s still pretty cut up about it,” Byford said.

“We are giving him every assistance in coping, psychologically, with what’s happened.”

The shocking crime highlighted safety issues for TTC workers. Commission chair Karen Stintz said Presto smart card technology on the way will change how fares are collected. Byford said the commission was planning to study bullet-proof glass at collector booths.

Fare booths are currently monitored by CCTV and collectors have limited amounts of cash. Alarms are also in place — Anderson pressed his the night of the shooting.

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