Shocking video shows the moment shots were fired at a movie theatre in Richmond Hill, marking the fourth such incident since mid-May.
York Regional Police said officers were called to a cinema in the area of East Beaver Creek and Highway 7 at around 3:15 a.m. on Saturday after someone fired a gun at the front entrance.
Police have released video appearing to show the incident, in which a blue sedan pulls up outside and a suspect fires shots from the back seat of the car. The theatre was closed at the time and no one was injured.
“Officers attended that location and observed some front glass windows and doors of the premises at York Cinemas that had been shot out,” Det. Sgt. Jason Dinsmore told Global News in an interview.
Investigators noted that this is the fourth shooting that happened at the cinema since May 17, with a different suspect vehicle used in each incident.
On May 17, 19, and 24, shots were fired at the theatre from the suspect vehicles. Investigators also released videos of those incidents.
Police previously said that no one was injured.
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Dinsmore said the vehicles used in the shootings were all stolen.
In January, another shooting took place at the same theatre, which police said at the time was believed to be linked to similar incidents that occurred the same night at theatres throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
Dinsmore said two arrests were made in that case — one person remains in custody, while the other is out on bail.
Despite the similarities, it’s currently believed the four recent shootings at the Richmond Hill theatre are not linked to what happened in January, Dinsmore said.
“At this time, we do not believe these incidences are connected,” Dinsmore said.
“But, as any investigation unravels, we never close any avenues and are always open to any information that we discover.”
An Ontario film distributor alleged that the shootings in January were linked to an intimidation campaign by other film distributors relating to popular South Indian movies.
York Cinemas bills itself as a “multicultural movie theatre,” having “the latest Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Malayalam movies.”
“We believe the motives back in January for what occurred then and what is happening now are, at this time, two different motives,” Dinsmore said.
“That matter is still before the courts so I’m not going to comment on the direct motive behind that other than we believe what’s happened here in Richmond Hill in the last month or so is possibly a separate matter,” he later added.
In the interview, Dinsmore said there “are definitely similarities” with a series of shooting that happened over the weekend in Toronto which Toronto police have said are related to the tow truck industry. But Dinsmore said there isn’t a connection at this time with what has happened at the theatre in Richmond Hill.
He was asked if the violence involving the tow truck industry may be connected to the incidents at the theatre.
“I’ve seen those comments released by Toronto police and York Regional Police, at this point in time, cannot say that the … shootings that we’ve had in Richmond Hill are related to the tow truck industry,” Dinsmore said.
“But, as I mentioned earlier, we always are searching for motives and reasons of why these criminal acts are occurring.”
Police presence has been noticeably stepped up outside York Cinemas and surveillance cameras are everywhere. The theatre remains open.
Officers are asking that anyone with information who hasn’t yet spoken with police or anyone who has video footage from the area come forward.
— With files from Catherine McDonald and The Canadian Press