Loved ones have come together to remember a 17-year-old boy who was fatally struck by a vehicle in Toronto’s east end Monday evening, calling him a devoted friend and community member.
“As you got closer to him, he turned more into a brother. He always stuck up for me,” Brian Anton, Samuel Dan Kumar’s friend, told Global News Friday evening, adding the two knew each through church.
“You wished that you had a friendship with him … our birthdays are just five days apart.”
Emergency crews were called to the Scarborough Golf Club Road and Confederation Drive area, south of Lawrence Avenue East, at 8:20 p.m. with reports of a collision.
Police said a 21-year-old driver of a 2004 Acura was travelling south on Scarborough Golf Club Road when Kumar was hit while crossing the road.
A Toronto police spokesperson told Global News the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene and residents in the area tried to perform CPR on Kumar.
Toronto Paramedics took him to a trauma centre in life-threatening condition, but Kumar later died at the hospital.
Pastor David Loganathan said members of the church Kumar belonged to organized Friday’s vigil.
“As a church, we are devastated. We have a lot of young people and we have a lot of questions,” he said.
Meanwhile, police asked local residents, businesses and drivers who may have security or dashcam footage to contact investigators at 416-808-1900.