Grandmother was running for cover when she was fatally shot, police say

Police call the shooting that killed 61-year-old grandmother Peggy Ann Smith a ‘cowardly act’ and are hoping members of the public will come forward with information that will help solve her murder.

Standing in front of a growing vigil in the Dundas Street East and Broadview Avenue area, Det. Dave Dickinson told the media he believed the shooting was a targeted attack, but that Smith and her family were not the targets.

Smith, along with her daughter and grandchildren, were outside enjoying a summer evening on Saturday when two male suspects walked southbound on Don Mount Court and opened fire.

“Peggy, along with her family and others, attempted to run to safety, and in the process Peggy was struck by gunfire and subsequently succumb to her injuries,” Dickinson explained.

She collapsed and died at the foot of the steps leading into her home.

Police wouldn’t say how many times Smith was shot.

Security footage show that the two suspects fled the scene, running northbound up Don Mount Court. Dickinson said they were last seen at Dundas Street and Hamilton Street.

“I need the public’s assistance in tracking the two suspects,” he said. “Dundas Street would have been very busy with vehicular and pedestrian traffic at this time and I need to hear from anyone who saw the two men running in the area.”

The suspects are described as follows:

Suspect 1: Male with a brown complexion, in his 20s, approximately five-foot-six-inches tall with an average build. He had a full beard and was wearing dark pants a grey hoodie with the hood up, and a black baseball cap.

Suspect 2: A black male of Somalian descent, in his late teens or early 20s, approximately five-foot-eleven-inches tall, with a skinny build. He was wearing dark pants and a grey hoodie with the hood up. The hoodie may have also had a dark band running across the bottom of the hood.

There has been no word on a possible motive behind the shooting but police said there were a number of young men in the laneway at the time of the shooting.

“I have spoken to a few of these men. However, there are a few who have not yet come forward. I need these men to contact me. It is my belief that this group of men were the ones who were targeted,” Dickinson said.