The 19-year-old victim of a shooting in Brampton, Ont., called the man who rushed to his aid his “guardian angel,” the Good Samaritan who helped him that day recalled.
The Good Samaritan, a neighbour who did not want to be identified, told Global News he ran out to see what happened after a vehicle crashed into his driveway.
Peel Regional Police said the teenager was found with gunshot wounds in a vehicle on a residential street near Sandalwood Parkway East and Bramalea Road at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The neighbour said he initially assumed the driver might be intoxicated but once he started speaking to the teen, he learned the man had been shot in both of his legs.
“I yelled in to my father-in-law to grab towels so I can put pressure on the wounds until police or paramedics get here,” he told Global News.
“He started vomiting a little bit here and there, but you know, he kept calling me his guardian angel, that I was helping him.”
The neighbour said it was “the right thing to do.”
“I obviously don’t want anyone to die,” he said, adding he was just re-certified for first aid CPR training at his work earlier that day.
He said he is a little shaken up since the incident happened in his neighbourhood with his family nearby, and that he noticed bullet holes in the blue SUV the victim was in.
The victim was then assessed by police and paramedics and rushed to the hospital. His injuries were deemed serious but not-life-threatening.
Const. Taylor Halfyard said they were called to the residential street for a motor vehicle collision that occurred on a driveway, where they found the victim.
“Peel Regional Police would like to thank the Good Samaritan who was able to provide life-saving measures to help the victim survive this incident,” Halfyard said.
Halfyard said the shooting did not happen on the street where the collision occurred.
“Investigators are still trying to determine where exactly, precisely the shooting did occur,” he said.
There is no suspect information available at this time, Halfyard said.
Anyone with information or video is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.