Halton Region’s police chief is calling for more action to be taken on guns coming into Canada from the United States after Monday’s shooting rampage in the GTA that left multiple dead and injured.
Police officials held a press conference Thursday morning where they provided more information on Monday’s events.
They confirmed that the gunman, 40-year-old Sean Petrie, had an “extensive criminal record” dating back 20 years, including for robbery and firearms-related offences.
He was also the subject of a firearms prohibition.
In March 2007, Petrie was placed in national flagging system as a high risk to reoffend.
“Obviously he was not a lawful gun owner,” Halton police Chief Stephen Tanner said.
“Guns kill people and illegal guns kill people. And in Ontario when it comes to crime handguns — and it was a handgun used in these horrific crimes — close to 90 per cent of those handguns can and are traced back to their origin in the United States. Let’s do something about that.”
Two people were killed in the shootings Monday, which took place in Mississauga and Milton.
At the Mississauga scene, Toronto police Const. Andrew Hong was killed while another person was injured.
Police said Petrie had arrived at the Tim Hortons in Mississauga where the shooting took place more than two hours prior to killing Hong and was looking to target a police officer.
In Milton, 38-year-old Shakeel Ashraf — the owner of MK Auto Repairs — was shot and killed. Two others were injured, including a 28-year-old international exchange student who worked at the shop and is not expected to survive.
Petrie previously worked at MK Auto Repairs, Tanner said.
Later on Monday, Hamilton police said Petrie was shot and killed in a cemetery in the York Boulevard area.
The province’s police watchdog — the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) — has invoked its mandate and is now investigating the death.
Tanner said the gun used by Petrie is currently in the possession of the SIU.
He said they’re awaiting information from the SIU that will allow them to trace where the gun came from.
“We do not know at this point if the gun is from the United States because the firearm is in the hands of the Special Investigations Unit and we’re just not able to access the serial number yet,” Tanner said.
But, Tanner said, based on the statistics, there is a “90 per cent probability that it is” from the U.S.