Fatal hit-and-run in Toronto’s east end treated as homicide

Police are now calling a fatal hit-and-run a homicide. It was reported early Sunday in Toronto’s east end.

Around 4 a.m., Toronto police responded to reports someone had been struck by a vehicle in the area of Danforth and Woodbine avenues.

Police said the driver fled the scene. The victim, a male pedestrian, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was pronounced dead at hospital.

At a briefing on Sunday morning, police said that a dark vehicle was involved. The driver reportedly fled west along Danforth Avenue.

In a later tweet, Toronto police said the hit-and-run was now a homicide investigation.

Natasha Bilak, who has lived in the area for a year, said she saw the incident unfold.

“Hearing the noise of the people screaming and seeing what I witnessed (was) very, very scary, (it) keeps replaying in my head,” she said, speaking at the scene.

Bilak said she saw an altercation take place outside a bar on Danforth Avenue before a man got into his car. She said the man then performed a U-turn on the street and, Bilak believed, deliberately drove at a group of young people, hitting a man she said was in his 20s.

Bilak said she would “never expect something like this to happen” in the area.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Toronto police.