After deadly GTA shooting rampage, Peel police launch multi-jurisdictional investigation

Peel police say they are co-ordinating a multi-jurisdictional investigation into shootings across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area that left two people dead Monday, including a Toronto police officer, and injured three others.

The chase for the suspect ended about two hours after the first of two reported shootings Monday afternoon when Ontario's police watchdog says officers shot the man, who had been tracked down in a Hamilton cemetery.

The shootings left 48-year-old Const. Andrew Hong, who worked with the Toronto Police Service's traffic unit, and 38-year-old Shakeel Ashraf, owner of an auto repair shop in Milton, dead.

Peel police say Hong was killed on his lunch break in an "unprovoked" attack while training in Mississauga, Ont.

Moments later, the suspect shot a man and stole his Jeep Cherokee SUV, the victim's sister confirmed to CBC Toronto on Tuesday. The man was taken to hospital. 

That vehicle, meanwhile, became the focus of a frantic afternoon search as Peel, Halton and Hamilton police urged the public to be on the lookout for the black Jeep and the armed and dangerous suspect behind the wheel.

The suspect would continue his shooting rampage at a Milton autobody shop, where Ashraf was killed and two others were injured by gunfire, according to Halton police.

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU), meanwhile, is investigating what happened a short time later in a Hamilton cemetery, where the suspect died while police officers were present. At least four officers had shot at the suspect, the SIU confirmed.

An outpouring of grief

On Monday night, police lined in procession as Hong's body was taken from the scene at a Tim Hortons in Peel.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mississauga and Brampton fire services will return to the scene to lay flowers in Hong's memory.

Meanwhile in Milton, flowers have appeared in front of Ashraf's body shop as of Tuesday afternoon. The local mechanic is being mourned by community members and the Islamic Community Centre of Milton.

Provincial police watchdog invokes mandate

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says it is investigating how the suspect died.

Four officers, from both the Hamilton and Halton Regional police services, shot at the suspect in the cemetery, the SIU said.

The SIU, which investigates when someone is injured or killed when police officers are involved, has sent a large team to the sprawling scenes with seven investigators and two forensic investigators, said spokeswoman Kristy Denette.

"There's a number of firearms that have been looked at," she said.

"It's not clear whose firearms sort of belong to who at this point... there are a number of bullet casings scattered throughout the scene, so it's some time just to process everything."

The man's family was notified of his death last night, but they have not consented to the public release of his name, Denette said.

Peel Regional Police previously identified the suspect as 30-year-old Shawn Petry in its provincewide emergency alert on Monday.

Timeline of shooting events

• 2:15 p.m.: Peel Regional Police are called to a shooting in the area of Argentia Road and Winston Churchill Boulevard in Mississauga.
• 2:50 p.m.: Halton police respond to multiple reports of a shooting at an auto shop in Milton. They find the owner, Shakeel Ashraf, dead at the scene along with two other injured victims later transported to hospital. Police provided this information in a news release a day after the shootings took place.
• 3:21 p.m.: Two people are shot, Peel police say, by a male deemed "armed and dangerous." One victim is rushed to a trauma centre. In a tweet, they ask the public to look out for a black Jeep Cherokee SUV, with a partially-identified licence plate number containing "905."
• 3:25 p.m.: Peel police provide an updated licence plate: CLMZ 905. If the public spots the vehicle, police warn, call 911 immediately and do not approach the suspect.
• 3:25 p.m.: Halton police close Bronte Street South from King Street to Main Street in Milton, and warn the public to avoid the area. In a tweet, they state the suspect fled the area in a black Jeep Cherokee — the same vehicle Peel police warned the public about minutes earlier.
• 4:05 p.m.: Peel police issue an updated description of the suspect. 
• 4:23 p.m.: Hamilton police tweet they are monitoring an active shooter situation in Peel and Halton regions. They state the suspect was last seen near Highway 407 and Brant Street at 3:04 p.m., in the same black Jeep Cherokee.
• 4:25 p.m.: Peel police issue an emergency alert across the province. They identify the suspect as Shawn Petry, 30. 
• 4:33 p.m.: Halton police confirm they have arrested a suspect. In Milton, 1 person has been pronounced dead at the scene, and 2 others have been transported to hospital. At this point, two people — a Toronto police officer in Mississauga, and another person in Milton — have been shot dead. Three others have been injured.
• 4:47 p.m.: Hamilton police warn the public to stay away from York Boulevard to Dundurn Street North, all the way to Highway 403, in a tweet. Both eastbound and westbound lanes are closed. 
• 5:47 p.m.: Peel Police tweet they are retracting the provincial safety alert. They announce there is no further threat to public safety in relation to this incident.
• 6:29 p.m.: In a news conference, Hamilton police say one person has been shot and pronounced dead in the Hamilton cemetery in relation to the shootings in Peel and Halton.
• 7:34 p.m.: Hamilton police confirm via tweet that the provincial police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, has invoked its mandate. The SIU is called in when police are involved in cases where civilians are seriously injured or killed, or there are allegations of sexual assault against officers.
• 8:00 p.m.: Police representatives from Toronto, Halton and Peel, alongside the head of the Toronto Police Association John Reid, appear at a joint news conference. They announce the death of Toronto Police Constable Andrew Hong. It's later followed by police a procession in his honour.