Toronto police say they are struggling to find a motive behind the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Schulich business student Venojan Suthesan in the city’s east end on May 27.
Det. Andy Singh told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday that Suthesan was shot and killed by a suspect just outside of Lester B. Collegiate Institute, in the Washburn Way and Tapscott Road area, just before midnight.
“At this point I’m going to say he was blitzed, he was surprised and he wasn’t prepared for what was going to occur,” Singh said.
It was not part of Suthesan’s routine to be walking that late at night by himself, Singh said. He had gotten home around 11 p.m. from work and left about a half an hour later.
At the time, Suthesan’s family said they believed he was going to the gym.
Police believe he was walking to a “pre-planned” meeting with someone. Singh said Suthesan had been walking “with a purpose” to the area where he was shot.
“There’s someone out there who knows who Venojan was going out to meet that night, and that person has to come forward,” Singh said, adding based on what investigators know of Suthesan that he would have told somebody who he was going to see.
Investigators said they are looking for a dark-coloured vehicle that was seen circling the area about 40 minutes prior to the incident. The suspect is described by police as being 5’10” with an average build. He was wearing a light hoodie and khaki pants at the time of the shooting.
WATCH: Family describes university student fatally shot in city’s east end as ‘selfless’
Suthesan’s sister Samira also spoke at the press conference on Wednesday and described her brother as “the most ambitious, intelligent, kindest person that I knew.”
“He was the kind of man that any person would have been lucky to have known,” she said.
“He had a presence that was warm, kind and comforting…his smile was contagious..his spirit was uplifting. He was selfless.”
Singh said Suthesan worked two jobs to help his family pay for his schooling. He said friends and faculty members at his university are “baffled” by his murder.
Councillor Neethan Shan called the shooting a “senseless act of violence” at the press conference.
“We need the people responsible for this cruel act of violence brought to justice.”
Comments