Toronto police arrest 3rd suspect in brazen Beach shooting

Toronto police say they have arrested a third suspect in connection with a daylight shooting that rattled the Beach Triangle neighbourhood in early January.

Police said in a news release on Monday that the suspect — a 23-year-old Toronto man — was arrested in Barrie, Ont., on Friday on an unrelated matter.

Earlier in the investigation, police said they believed people may have been helping the man avoid arrest.

Two other suspects, 20 and 21, have already been arrested and charged in connection with the Jan. 6 shooting, which took place in the area of Kingston Road and Woodbine Avenue. The shocking attack, carried out in broad daylight, left two people injured.

An update on their condition was not available on Monday.

Police said the third suspect is facing a number of charges, including but not limited to:

• Attempted murder

• Unauthorized possession of a firearm

• Failure to comply with probation

• Conspiracy to commit murder

• Discharge firearm with intent to wound endanger life

During the incident, which took place around 2:30 p.m. on a Sunday, police raced to the usually bustling Beach area.

An Audi, westbound on Kingston at Woodbine, was stopped at a light when it was approached from behind by a black Mercedes, police said.

A man got out of the Mercedes, went to the passenger side of the Audi with a firearm and began shooting into it, police said. Two people were shot.

The gunman then fled southbound into an area east of Woodbine and south of Kingston.

Meanwhile, the driver of the Audi drove southbound on Woodbine, before stopping in front of a business. Paramedics took the two wounded people, both said to be in their 20s, to hospital.

The driver who remained in the Mercedes sped off southbound on Woodbine and crashed into another vehicle. Four men ran then from the Mercedes.

Police located two of the men who fled from the Mercedes and also found several firearms nearby.

Those suspects have already appeared in court. A court date for the third suspect has not been released.