2 arrested after ‘day-long crime spree’ involving carjacking, robberies, random shootings

Toronto police say two people are in custody after a day-long crime spree that involved numerous gunpoint store robberies, a carjacking, random shootings, and finally, a crash involving a stolen vehicle and police cruiser.

“Essentially this started this morning at approximately 5:00 a.m. (with) a retail gunpoint robbery,” Duty Inspector Mandeep Mann explained. “What we now know is that throughout the day the individuals responsible for that retail robbery went on essentially a day-long crime spree involving firearms (and) multiple robberies at gunpoint.”

Mann said the retail robberies took place at locations across Scarborough. At one point, the suspects carjacked a driver at gunpoint in York Region.

Later Wednesday, police received several calls about people being shot at with what appeared to be a firearm from a vehicle that matched the description from the earlier robberies.

Const. David Hopkinson told 680 NEWS the shootings appeared to be “absolutely random.”

“There was a gentleman on a bicycle who was shot at,” Hopkinson explained.

At around 5:30 p.m. officers spotted the stolen vehicle at Midland Avenue and Huntingwood Drive in Scarborough.

“The officers attempted to take that vehicle down and a collision occurred,” Mann said. “Eventually both of the suspects were taken into custody. Both of them are young offenders and we have recovered a firearm in the vehicle.”

Mann couldn’t confirm earlier reports that the weapon was a BB gun.

“We do have some information that some of the incidents today involved an air-soft pistol, whether the firearm that we have in the vehicle now is an air-soft or proper firearm we’ll have to conduct some tests to determine that.”

Mann added that luckily no one was struck in the shootings.

One of the suspects suffered minor injuries in the collision with the cruiser.

Mann said the suspects are known to police and were both out on bail on previous gun charges. They will now face a slew of new firearm offences, he said.

“Again, we see the situation where someone who has committed an offence released and has now chosen to pick up a firearm again and continue to commit crimes.”