A 51-year-old Toronto man has been charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a prominent Toronto criminal defence lawyer in the city’s Annex neighbourhood Tuesday.
Toronto police Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook confirmed to Global News Wednesday that Grayson Delong has been charged with attempted murder, disguise with intent and 13 firearms-related charges in connection with the shooting.
Halton Regional Police responded to a call outside a law office in the Bedford Road and Prince Arthur Avenue area, near Bloor Street West and St. George Street, just after 3:30 p.m.
J. Randall Barrs, whose website said he is a criminal defence lawyer with a “national reputation” in “high profile drug and murder cases,” was one of two people shot outside Barrs’ law office at 23 Bedford Rd.
“He’s a very prominent lawyer who defends drug cases,” Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby said Tuesday afternoon. “He’s appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada many times, he’s served at every level of court … he’s been around forever.”
Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, has taken over the investigation into the police-involved shooting and said late Tuesday Barrs was leaving his office when an unidentified 51-year-old male opened fire on him.
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Eyewitness Peter Schilling, who works across the street, said he saw a silver Honda Civic pull up in front of the law office when a man dressed in a construction outfit exited the vehicle and fired four to five times at Barrs.
“A plain clothes police officer on foot — literally out of nowhere — comes and begins firing his weapon at the shooter.”
Schilling said the suspect then tried to flee the area in his vehicle, but was pinned by undercover police officers’ vehicles about 30 metres from the scene of the shooting.
“The whole thing took four to five minutes. And I counted four to five shots from the shooter and five to six shots from the policeman as well,” he said.
“The first minute or so you cannot even process what you’re seeing, we’re in The Annex, we’re in Yorkville — this doesn’t happen in this neighbourhood.”
The SIU said undercover Halton Regional Police officers were conducting surveillance in the area and one of the officer’s shot the suspect at the scene shortly after Barrs was hit by gunfire.
The suspect was rushed to hospital by paramedics at the scene, underwent surgery and remains in serious condition.
Sixty-six-year-old Barrs was rushed to another hospital and is recovering from an undisclosed number of gunshot wounds to his legs.
The SIU said Wednesday both patients were recuperating in hospital and none of the injuries were considered life-threatening.
According to a biography on Barrs’ website, he graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School and specializes in homicides, drug crimes, domestic assaults, driving offences, white collar crimes and regulatory offences.
Barrs has tried significant cases including representing seven men who ran one of the largest marijuana grow operations in Canada out of a former Molson brewery in Barrie, Ont. in 2004.
The SIU is an arms-length organization that investigates incidents involving police in which there have been deaths, injuries or allegations of sexual assault.
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact the lead investigator at 1-800-787-8529.
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