Dog fatally shot after altercation between 2 men at downtown Toronto park

Toronto police say an investigation is underway after an altercation between two men led to one fatally shooting the other’s dog at a downtown park.

Officers were notified of a possible shooting at Barbara Hall Park in the Church-Wellesley neighbourhood just after 11 p.m. on Tuesday.

Toronto police Const. Victor Kwong says there was an altercation between two men at around 10:30 p.m. who appeared to be unknown to each other.

Authorities received conflicting information about the shooting and later determined that a dog had been shot, not a person.

“One male left, returned, shot the man’s dog, then fled,” Const. Kwong said.

Toronto police officers helped the man take the body of his deceased companion to an emergency vet hospital.

Const. Kwong said the dog was three years old, but the breed is unknown.

“We continue to canvass for video and witnesses,” he said.

The investigation is ongoing, and there is no information on the man who fled the scene after fatally shooting the dog.

Toronto police say this is a separate investigation from an incident at Barbara Hall Park on Tuesday, where a man was arrested in a stabbing.