Toronto police say they are investigating after shots were fired at a vehicle from another vehicle at a busy intersection in the city on Monday morning.
Police said the shooting happened at Yonge Street and Empress Avenue, just north of Sheppard Avenue, at around 10:45 a.m.
Duty Insp. Brian Maslowski told reporters at the scene the shooting stemmed from a collision involving a black Ram pickup truck and a Kia near Willowdale and Cummer avenues.
Maslowski said investigators believe the Ram rear-ended the Kia; afterwards, the Ram followed the Kia to Willowdale and Bishop avenues.
“It was at that time that an occupant in the black pickup actually shot at the Kia motor vehicle,” he said, adding the Kia headed south on Yonge Street where it was involved in a collision and flipped over.
“An occupant in that black pickup truck got out and shot at the Kia … after that, they fled southbound on Yonge Street.”
Images from the scene show a vehicle flipped over onto its hood, partially crushed underneath a large dump truck.
Two adults – a man and a woman – were in the Kia. They were hurt, but their injuries were not related to the shooting, Maslowski said.
He added the investigation is “complex” as it involves multiple scenes. It was too early to determine a motive, but Maslowski said it appears the incident does not stem from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which occurred one year ago and has led to a spike in hate crimes across the city.
Police are unsure how many occupants were in the Ram, but are asking the public to keep an eye out for it. Maslowski said the truck would have extensive front-end damage, and a broken window.
“It’s highly unusual to have this type of interaction,” he added.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
— with files from Aaron D’Andrea