A 34-year-old man was shot during an altercation with police around 2 a.m. inside a non-profit housing building at 177 Mutual St., near Ryerson University, the province’s Special Investigative Unit said.
The man was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital where he was listed in serious condition.
During an “interaction” with Toronto Police on the fourth floor, the man suffered gunshot wounds, said the SIU, which probes cases where civilians are injured or killed by police.
The SIU has so far identified one subject officer and five witnesses.
SIU investigators were on scene for several hours Saturday, collecting evidence and canvassing residents.
Kevin Babineau, who lives on the fourth floor, said he was briefly confronted by the man when a fire alarm went off around 2 a.m.
Babineau said he exited his unit and encountered the man aiming a fire extinguisher at him in the hallway.
“My head is like ‘Oh he’s going to shoot this,’” Babineau recounted. “I’m like ‘Hey it’s cool, it’s cool, relax.’”
The man set off the fire extinguisher as Babineau ran back to his apartment.
A short time later he heard three gunshots.
“There was one shot and (police) were yelling at him to put it back and he didn’t put it down,” Babineau recalled. “Like he got shot and I think he was still going.”
The ordeal left him “pretty scared,” Babineau said.
Hours after the shooting, large blood stains were still visible on the carpet and walls on the fourth floor. A door frame showed a bullet hole.
A spokesman for the building confirmed the shooting victim was not a tenant but Babineau said he had seen him in the building before.
Bob Amyotte, a long-time resident, said his floor is normally quiet.
“You get a few people in and out of the building that shouldn’t be here once in a while but that’s about it,” Amyotte said.
The SIU is asking anyone with information to call investigators at 416-622-1965.
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