An Ottawa man who had gone to Toronto to watch the Caribana festival and tour some nightclubs was shot to death in what police call a “targeted” ambush Saturday.
Wesler Fabien, 25, died of gunshots to the heart and chest area, and his friend was critically wounded, when a single gunman ambushed them near their hotel about 4:30 a.m., police said.
The two men had been visiting clubs in the city’s entertainment district, and returned to their Howard Johnson hotel in the Yorkville neighbourhood. They parked their car and were walking through a laneway when they were shot with a handgun, said Det. Mike Barsky.
At a press conference on Monday, Barsky said the two victims “were approached from behind by a lone shooter who discharged several rounds from a handgun in their direction.”
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Both men were hit. The friend was a 22-year-old Montreal man. Police aren’t releasing his name. He’s in critical condition in hospital with a single wound to the torso, but is expected to survive and has been able to talk to homicide detectives.
The laneway where the shooting took place is covered by video cameras, and police are now examining the surveillance videos.
The dead man was “known to police,” the detective said. He wouldn’t give details.
“The investigation is still in its infant stages,” and police are reluctant to speculate too much on why the double shooting took place, he said.
However, they say there’s no evidence so far to suggest it was a robbery. And they say the nature of the shooting suggests the gunman chose one or both of the victims as specific targets, for unknown reasons.
“It certainly doesn’t appear to be a random attack.”
Barsky said it is possible that the shooting was the culmination of something that started in the entertainment district.
The two victims had driven up to their hotel in a distinctive car, a silver Range Rover.
There’s nothing to suggest Fabien was in Toronto for any reason beyond taking in the nightlife and perhaps visiting friends for a few days, police said.
The post mortem was performed Saturday.
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