'Shooting the first residents they see:' Woman shot to death in parked car in North York
A 31-year-old Toronto woman has died in what police are calling a drive-by shooting in Lawrence Heights.
"It would appear that this is a case of individuals coming from one neighbourhood in the city to another neighbourhood and shooting the first residents they see," Det. Dave Dickinson said at a press conference Sunday.
The victim, Jenas Nyarko, was in a parked car with three other people in the area of Replin Road and Old Meadow Lane at around 2 a.m. Sunday, when a silver SUV drove by and opened fire, police say.
The other passengers in the car were unhurt but Nyarko was struck.
She was rushed to hospital by paramedics but died shortly after. Police say she was on her way home after a funeral when the incident happened.
The SUV, a 2010-2016 Cadillac SRX, fled to another area in the neighbourhood, near Flemington Road and Blossomfield Drive, and opened fire there as well, police say. Local residents were in the area but none were stuck.
Dickinson released video footage of the attack in hopes that witnesses will come forward.
Nyarko, who migrated to Canada from Ghana in 2001, lived in Toronto alone and worked at a shelter, Dickinson said. There is nothing that indicates that she or any of the other passengers in the car were targeted, he added.
Her death marks Toronto's 47th homicide of the year and one of four in the GTA in under 24 hours.
Toronto's police chief, Mark Saunders, joined Dickinson at Sunday's press conference to send a message to the passengers in the suspect vehicle.
"In this particular case, it looks like the characteristics of street gang sub-culture where you have a couple of drive-by shootings and they're usually in your rival neighbourhood," he explained.
"There are people in that car that I'm questioning if they knew exactly what was going to go on. If there is an opportunity for them to contact the police, come in with a lawyer and provide the evidence to support everyone involved in this occurrence, it would be of the utmost importance," he said.
Mayor John Tory also responded to the violent attack at a news conference during the Pride parade Sunday afternoon.
"These people are trying to attack our way of life," he said. "They are thugs...we have to get them off the streets.
"I've said to the chief whatever supports he needs, he has," the mayor added.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
