Toronto police are appealing for those with dashcam or surveillance video captured near Coronation Park — where a 30-year-old man was shot and killed while attending a memorial — to come forward.
Police said officers and paramedics were called to the park, located east of Strachan Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard West near Exhibition Place, at around 6:15 p.m. Sunday. An annual memorial barbecue for Kamal Hercules, who was shot and killed in downtown Toronto in September 2009, was being held near one of the baseball diamonds, and 30 to 40 people were in attendance.
WATCH: A brazen daytime shooting at a busy park in downtown Toronto was part of a rash of gun violence across that city over the weekend. As Matthew Bingley reports, four people were murdered.
Det. Amanda Thornton told reporters Monday that four men approached the victim, who has been identified as Markham resident Michael Lewis, while he was at the memorial with his partner, who is expecting their child, and his two children.
“The males approached Mr. Lewis and after a short conversation, our shooter pulled a handgun and fired multiple shots striking Michael Lewis at close range,” Thornton said, adding there is no information suggesting there was an argument or altercation before the shooting.
Emergency crews attempted to perform life-saving measures on Lewis after he collapsed to the ground, but he died at the scene.
Thornton said the men were last seen running away from the scene heading north toward Lake Shore Boulevard West.
Based on the interaction between the victim and the men, Thornton said there appears to be a past relationship but wouldn’t discuss the details.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-1400 or 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.