‘Could’ve been anyone’: Residents shocked by death of woman hit by stray bullet in Toronto

Shaken residents of an east Toronto neighbourhood worked Monday to process the aftermath of a shooting that killed a bystander with a stray bullet as police searched for three suspects.

Police say 44-year-old Karolina Huebner-Makurat was killed while walking in the area of Queen Street and Carlaw Avenue around 12:20 p.m. on Friday. She was hit by a bullet after a group of three men were in an altercation nearby, and two of them fired guns at each other, police said.

Flowers, candles and a few notes were visible Monday in the Leslieville neighbourhood where Huebner-Makurat was shot.

“It could’ve been anyone. It could’ve been any mother, any father, anyone in this neighbourhood. It’s just really awful,” said Lara Shaw, a Leslieville resident.

A man who identified himself as Huebner-Makurat’s husband posted on social media after Friday’s shooting, asking for privacy and calling it a “tragic day.”

“Life is short. Hug your loved ones every moment you get the chance,” wrote Adrian Makurat on a profile filled with pictures of the couple and two young girls.

RELATED: Mother of 2 killed in Leslieville remembered by friends, community as a ‘shining light’

Will Jennings and Gabrielle Jennings, who have lived in the Leslieville neighbourhood for around five years, said the shooting has shocked them and their neighbours.

“She was just an innocent bystander, which is pretty horrifying,” Will Jennings said of Karolina Huebner-Makurat.

Gabrielle Jennings added, “I think everyone feels like this sort of could have been us. It could’ve been me. I was there two days before.”

Photo of the family of Karolina Huebner-Makurat as seen on a GoFundMe campaign page. GOFUNDME.

They said it called to mind the horrifying scene five years ago this month, when the couple lived in nearby Greektown, and a gunman went on a shooting rampage along Danforth Avenue, killing two young girls and injuring 13 others.

“Here we are in the midst of another one,” Will Jennings said.

Police released pictures of three suspects and made an appeal to the public for help identifying them. Two of the suspects being sought by police are described as between 18 and 25 years old, while the other man is thought to be 25 to 30.

RELATED: Possible Leslieville shooting suspect caught on surveillance cam

A police spokesperson said Monday morning there were no updates to share. The homicide unit would update the public “as soon as new information is available,” media relations officer Laurie McCann said in an email.

Ben Tutu was in the area Friday when he heard three bangs and saw people running from the direction of Carlaw and Queen. Once police arrived, he walked up to the area and “saw the chaos,” he said.

Asked why he returned to the area on Monday, he said his “heart was heavy all weekend.”

“An innocent lady shouldn’t have to lose her life … getting shot out of nowhere and leaving two kids and a husband behind,” he said.

As he drove to the area on Monday, Tutu said he had heard the news of another shooting that morning near Toronto’s busy intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets. A man and a woman in their 20s had been taken to hospital with serious injuries in what police indicated may have been a road rage incident that turned violent.

“The city needs to do better,” Tutu said.

Huebner-Makurat is the city’s 32nd homicide of the year. Police data indicate 12 of those victims were killed in a shooting, 13 in a stabbing and seven in other unspecified incidents.

Publicly available police data – current as of Saturday – shows reported shootings are at a five-year low, dating back to 2019. So far this year, there have been 153 reported shootings or firearm discharges, compared to a high of 225 in 2020 or the next lowest mark of 187 in 2021.