27-year-old man arrested in random pellet gun attack on woman in Scarborough

A 27-year-old man is facing charges several charges after a woman was shot in the face with a pellet gun in an apparent random attack in Scarborough earlier this week.

Investigators say a 76-year-old woman was walking in the area of McLevin Avenue and Neilson Road in Scarborough around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday when she was approached from behind by a suspect.

The suspect passed by the woman before turning and allegedly shooting her several times in the face and hand with a pellet gun before fleeing the area on foot.

Toronto resident Umer Saad, 27, is facing several charges including assault with a weapon and breaching a conditional sentence order.

Toronto police Insp. Michael Williams was asked about the suspect’s previous conditional sentence at an update from police headquarters on Friday morning, saying he could not go into details but that it was “court-imposed.”

The accused was scheduled to appear in a Toronto courtroom on Friday morning.

Victim recovering but ‘traumatized’

The victim went to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and police said she was back at home resting as of Thursday morning.

“Quite obviously, she’s very traumatized and she’s actually concerned about walking back on the street again,” said Williams. “We’ve spoken to members of the city’s crisis response team who are following up in the community.”

“We know this traumatizing for this woman, but also traumatizing for anyone that lived in the neighbourhood.”

A police source tells CityNews officers arrested Saad around 10 p.m. Thursday in a home near where the attack took place. Detectives were able to use security cameras in the area to trace the steps of the alleged shooter.

Investigators still have no known motive for the attack and say it is still being treated as random.

“It’s a very upsetting incident that took place,” said Williams. “But at the same time it’s great to see the community and the police working in partnership to identify this person.”