Suspect sought after woman shot in face with pellet gun ‘for no apparent reason’
Posted February 28, 2024 8:52 pm.
Last Updated February 29, 2024 2:09 pm.
Police are searching for a suspect after a woman in her 70s was shot in the face with a pellet gun in an apparent random attack on Wednesday morning.
Investigators say the woman was walking along Hupfield Trail near McLevin Avenue in Scarborough around 11:36 a.m. when she was approached from behind by someone.
The suspect passed by the 76-year-old woman and allegedly shot her several times in the face and hand with a pellet gun before fleeing the area on foot.
A crossing guard who was working at a nearby school tells CityNews the victim approached him bleeding and asked him to drop her off at her home.
“She was asking for help,” says Fermin Villanueva, adding he offered to call 911 for the victim. “There was blood, she was a bit pale, and she said ‘I don’t know what to do.'”
“She asked me to bring her to her house, so that’s what I did.”
The woman was eventually taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and was back at home resting as of Thursday morning.
A police source says she was wearing glasses, which likely saved her from a severe eye injury. A pellet shattered one of her lenses but did not penetrate an eye.
Nearby Mary Shadd Public School was briefly placed in hold and secure on Wednesday morning after the woman was found injured near the school. Police have confirmed the victim has no affiliation with the school.
Victim shot ‘for no apparent reason,’ police say
Police say they believe this was a random attack.
“It doesn’t appear to be targeted at this time and it does appear to be random,” said Toronto police Const. Laurie McCann in an update on Thursday morning.
Officers are looking for a suspect who was last seen wearing a three-quarter-length grey jacket, black pants, and dark clothing covering their face and head. Photos have been released.
“What we’re hoping is people that were in the area that may have dashcam, or any type of cameras on their home that may have caught the suspect in the area at the time,” McCann said.
Anyone with information is being urged to contact investigators.
With files from Carl Hanstke
