GTA shooting spree leaves officer, shop owner dead; gunman killed by police
Posted September 12, 2022 3:20 pm.
Last Updated September 14, 2022 2:54 pm.
A day of terror in the GTHA on Monday ended with a police officer and a shop mechanic dead, three others shot, and the gunman ultimately killed by police.
The violence unfolded in three different locations, spanning Mississauga, Milton and Hamilton, and has resulted in an investigation involving several police services as well as the province’s police watchdog.
The events began when a man opened fire in a Mississauga restaurant, and then again in a Milton auto shop a short time later. The suspect was eventually killed in a police shooting in a Hamilton cemetery.
In an update on Monday, a grim-faced Toronto police Chief James Ramer confirmed that a Toronto officer, identified as 48-year-old Const. Andrew Hong, was shot and killed in the Mississauga shooting.
Hong, a 22-year veteran motorcycle officer, was on his lunch break from a training exercise in the Argentia Road and Winston Churchill Boulevard area when he was approached by a man carrying a gun and fatally shot at around 2:15 p.m.
“Const. Hong was shot at close range and died at the scene,” Ramer explained in an update Monday night.
Peel police Chief, Nishan Duraiappah, said Hong was shot in “an ambush attack.”
Another person was shot in the same incident and remains in hospital with what police are calling “life-altering” injuries.
A photo of Andrew Hong confirmed by a fellow officer.
The suspect fled the scene in a stolen black Jeep, prompting Peel police to send out an “active shooter” alert on televisions, radios and cellphones.
In the alert, the suspect was identified as Sean Petrie, 30.
The spree continued less than an hour later in Halton Region, where three people were shot at an auto body shop in Milton, with one dying. The other two victims are in critical and serious condition in hospital.
Family and friends of the deceased Milton victim have identified him as Shakeel Ashraf, the owner of the body shop.
Halton police near the scene of a triple shooting in Milton on Monday, September 12, 2022. Sean Toussaint/CITYNEWS
The shooter fled and was later located in Hamilton where he was shot to death by police officers in Hamilton Cemetery, ending the harrowing chain of events.
Police said no other suspects are being sought and there is no further threat to public safety.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) has confirmed it is investigating the fatal shooting of the suspect.
Police tape at Hamilton Cemetery where the suspect in a shooting spree was shot to death by police. Craig Wadman/CityNews
In an update late Monday night, the SIU’s Kristy Denette said officers from both Halton and Hamilton police fired shots at the suspect.
“Both services had officers which discharged their weapons,” she confirmed, calling it a “complicated scene” for investigators as they try to determine what transpired.
“It is unclear whether the person was armed and shots were exchanged,” Denette added. “There are a number of firearms that have been located at the scene at the cemetery.”
No motive in the shooting spree has been determined.
Editor’s note, Sept. 14, 2022: The suspect’s name was previously misspelled in the Ontario emergency alert and in this story. It has been corrected.
