Police identify man struck in fatal hit and run, now being investigated as homicide
Toronto police have identified a man who died after being struck in a fatal hit and run early Sunday morning in the city's east end.
Officers were called to the intersection of Danforth and Woodbine avenues shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday after reports of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle.
On arrival, police found a man with life-threatening injuries. He was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Police have identified the victim as Gabriel del Castillo Mullally, 25, from Toronto.
In a news release Sunday evening, police said Mullally was at a bar before the incident. The suspect was talking to a group outside the establishment before driving off.
Mullally was walking on the sidewalk when the suspect hit him with his vehicle, police say.
Police describe the suspect car as a "dark-coloured" SUV that travelled west on Danforth Avenue toward Woodbine Avenue.
Police say they are investigating the death as a homicide.
Neighbour Natasha Bilak told reporters she saw the incident from her nearby window.
She said she saw someone trying to get into the bar who was getting upset — then they proceeded to get into their vehicle and "intentionally" tried to drive into a group of people who were walking on the sidewalk on Danforth Avenue.
Bilak said she then saw the vehicle loop around and follow the group as they were walking along the street, before jumping the curb and hitting one of the people who were walking.
"It's scary — it's a scary life we live in right now," she said.
As a youth, Mullally starred in the 2011 film Amy George, which won the spirit award that year at the Brooklyn International Film Festival.
Directors Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas told CBC News in a statement that they were "shocked and devastated by Gabriel's tragic death."
Anyone with information on the incident or dashcam footage is asked to contact police.
