A 20-year-old man from Brampton, Ont., is facing dozens of charges after a series of what police describe as five random shootings in Toronto this month.
Toronto police allege the shootings took place between Jan. 9 and Jan. 21, primarily in the northwest part of the city.
Police said the alleged shootings took place in a variety of locations, including on sidewalks, inside buildings or while victims were seated in parked cars.
Supt. Ron Taverner told Global News on Tuesday that there is “absolutely no relationship” between any of the victims in the incidents.
None of the shootings were fatal, but at least one of the victims had serious injuries.
In one instance, the suspect allegedly shot at a 19-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl standing in a hallway of a building in the area of Rahtburn Road and The West Mall. The man suffered non-life-threatening injuries and the girl was unharmed.
In another incident, he allegedly fired at a 35-year-old man and his four-year-old girl who were sitting in a parked vehicle in the Finch Avenue West and Islington Avenue area. Both occupants were unharmed.
When asked whether the police should have warned the public earlier about the situation, Mayor John Tory told reporters at an unrelated press conference Tuesday that this “is the kind of judgment call that police have to make.”
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“I just thank God that the police did their work and found this person and brought him into custody and now the justice system will take its course,” Tory said. “I’m horrified that any four-year-old, or for that matter anybody in the city was subject to a random shooting.”
He went on to say he could not second guess how the police carried on their investigation.
WATCH: Twenty-year-old Adam Abdi is accused of shooting seven different people in five separate incidents. Kamil Karamali reports.
Taverner said Adam Abdi was arrested on Monday after police received information that was “consistent” with each of the five shootings, including a vehicle and suspect description.
“After the last shooting this past Sunday, some information came to us that identified the vehicle and the registration and we were able to get to the registered address, set up some observation and were able to arrest Mr. Abdi after a short foot chase.”
Taverner said after police executed a search warrant at the residence, officers located the gun believed to be used in the shootings.
Abdi faces 48 charges, including seven counts of attempted murder.
Taverner called the situation “bizarre” and “upsetting.”
“We pride ourselves on being a safe community in Toronto and Canada,” he said. “Yes, we have some issues but this is a bizarre situation.”
“I’ve never seen this happen before where we have five situations like this in a very short period of time — random shootings by one individual.”
Abdi was scheduled to appear in a Toronto court on Monday.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-3100 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.
—With files from The Canadian Press
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