Toronto
A second person has died in hospital following a mass shooting in Etobicoke on Sunday night, Toronto police say.
Police say autopsy will have to be done to determine if death was homicideCBC News
· Posted: Jun 05, 2024 3:39 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
Seymour Gibbs, 46, a father of six, is reported to be the second man who has died in hospital following a mass shooting in Etobcioke, according to his mother-in-law Sophia Dunn. (Supplied)A second person has died in hospital following a mass shooting in Etobicoke on Sunday night, police say.
Police say an autopsy will have to be performed to determine cause of death.
“We can’t confirm that it’s a homicide and related to the shooting until that is complete,” Const. Ashley Visser, spokeperson for the police, said in an email on Wednesday.
A family member has identified the man as Seymour Gibbs, 46.
Sophia Dunn, Gibbs’s mother in law, said he had five boys and one girl, and was kind, liked to cook and liked to make jokes.
She said she last spoke to Gibbs Tuesday night.
“Instead of one funeral, we will have two funerals,” she said. “Nobody should die like that,” she said. “He’s just gone too soon. The baby didn’t even touch one year old yet.”
Dunn said the death has left her shaken.
Toronto police are pictured at the scene of a fatal shooting in the parking lot of an Etobicoke high school late Sunday. (CBC)Five people were shot in a parking lot at the North Albion Collegiate Institute, near the corner of Mount Olive Drive and Kipling Avenue.
One of the five died in hospital that night. Police have identified that man as Delroy “George” Parkes, 61. Police said the four other injured people had either life-altering or non-life-threatening injuries.
Visser said police will not release the identity of the second person who died unless investigators deem the death to be a homicide.
Shooters arrived in dark pickup truck, police sayPolice have said a group of men were gathered at the parking lot after a soccer game, when a dark pickup truck pulled in. Two suspects then got out and shot at the men before taking off in the truck, police have said.
Police say they do not believe the suspects and victims knew each other.
CBC News obtained surveillance video showing a police vehicle following a dark-coloured truck in the area Sunday, then chasing suspects on foot. A police source told CBC News that investigators have no direct evidence tying the truck, which was stolen, to the shooting at this time. A forensics team is also examining the vehicle.
WATCH | Security camera captures police chase:
Surveillance video shows police chase after Etobicoke shootingCBC News has obtained two angles of surveillance video showing police following a truck that may have been involved in Sunday’s mass shooting in Etobicoke, then chasing suspects on foot. A police source says investigators have no direct evidence tying the truck, which was stolen, to the shooting at this time. The forensics team is examining the vehicle.
On Monday, Parkes’s daughter and wife spoke to the media, saying he was a good man much loved by his family.
Heather Parkes, his wife, had a message for the shooters: “Turn yourself in. Just turn yourself in. It’s not fair, Our world was taken from us for no reason… I want justice.”
Investigators are still searching for suspects and are asking for the public to come forward if they have any information.
Premier weighs inOn Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he is appalled by the recent violence in Rexdale.
“I’m totally disgusted by the senseless and repeated shootings and deaths in Rexdale over the past week. My heart breaks for the victims and their loved ones. Enough is enough,” Ford said.
“This disturbing trend of violence in our streets has to stop. The thugs who are terrorizing our communities need to have the book thrown at them,” Ford added.
Ford said the provincial government is investing hundreds of millions of dollars “to get more boots on the ground.”
“We’ll continue doing everything we can to make sure police have the support and resources they need to keep people safe and put these criminals behind bars for good.”
Community feeling ‘terrorized,’ councillor saysCoun. Vincent Crisanti, who represents Ward 1, Etobicoke North, said on Tuesday that he was devastated when he heard the news of the Sunday night shooting.
“I was shocked. I was angered. More importantly, my heart went out to the community,” he said.
Crisanti said there were three separate shootings in Etobicoke North over the weekend. He said the community is “terrified” and feels “terrorized” now.
“This is the worst I’ve seen it in terms of the severity of this particular violence,” he said. “The community is, to say that they’re afraid, doesn’t begin to really explain the fear that they feel.”
“It takes the fear to a whole new level,” he said.
Crisanti said he extends his condolences to the families of the two men who died in hospital following the shooting and the families of the three injured men.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he added.
He said he has been to the crime scene several times to speak to residents.
Crisanti said more resources should be devoted to the police and youth outreach programs. He said he has called for an emergency meeting to figure out how the city can improve such programs across Toronto.