Four shot in Rexdale

TORONTO - Four people were injured when a sunny Friday evening was interrupted by gunfire in several crowded Rexdale locations — including a hospital.

The gun violence, which may be gang-related, began when a group of men in a vehicle pulled into a housing complex on Mount Olive Dr., north of Kipling and Finch Aves., around 6:40 p.m. and opened fire, Toronto Police said.

“It was a brazen attack,” Det. Jason Leitch said Saturday at 23 Division.

The complex was teeming with families, including woman and young children playing in a nearby playground, when “several shots were fired,” he said.

Three people, all in their 20s, were injured in the shooting and two victims were taken to hospital by ambulance.

The third victim was driven to a nearby hospital by a “bystander” but the shooters were hot on their heels and followed the pair all the way into the parking of the medical facility near Hwy. 27 and Finch Ave. W.

“At Etobicoke General, right outside of the emergency department, more shots rang out,” Leitch said. “And as a result, the gentleman that transported the initial victim to the hospital was then shot and became a victim himself.”

The fourth victim was hit in his hip as he helped the other wounded man into the hospital, he said.

“Once again, that in itself is a brazen attack,” Leitch said. “People in an emergency room, again young children and families waiting to be seen by a doctor and a shooting occurs right outside.”

The gunfire prompted a lockdown at Etobicoke’s William Osler hospital. And Sunnybrook hospital, which was treating the only critically injured victim, was also locked down as a precaution.

“I’ve never seen a shooting at a hospital,” Leitch said. “It is a unique situation.”

The victim at Sunnybrook, also in his 20s, suffered life-threatening injuries but is now expected to survive.

The other three victims have all been treated and released from hospital.

Guns were also fired at a townhouse complex near Martin Grove Rd. and Finch Ave. W. Friday evening, an incident police believe was tied to the other two shootings but nobody was hurt in that shooting.

Four men who fled in two vehicles remain on the loose but no further description was immediately available.

Police maintained a presence in Rexdale Saturday — at the housing complexes and at the hospital — hoping to prevent further bloodshed and quell the fears of residents.

Anyone with information in these shootings should call police at 416-808-2300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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