Police find white pickup truck likely linked to tow-truck shooting north of Toronto

Toronto police have found a white Ford F150 pickup truck with no license plate that they believe was involved in a targeted shooting in a parking lot near Richmond Hill on Sunday night.

No one was injured, but the shooter was aiming at a tow truck driver, police said.

Police said officers found the truck parked in a residential area near Don Mills Road and Steeles Avenue East at about 8:20 a.m. on Monday. The truck has bullet holes in its side windows, there is "significant" damage to one side, and a rear tire, along with most of a rim, is missing.

York police said the truck is believed to have been used by two people in a shooting in a commuter parking lot at Highway 404 and Major Mackenzie Drive East. Police were called to the lot at about 8:15 p.m. on Sunday.

The truck will be examined, said Const. Laura Nicolle, spokesperson for York Regional Police, on Monday.

"Earlier today, we learned that Toronto police actually located the suspect vehicle and now that vehicle is going to be held for examination for any evidence that we might be able to get from that," Nicolle said.

Man stepped out of white pickup truck, opened fire

According to York police, a white Ford F150 pickup truck with no license plate entered the commuter parking lot and drove up to two parked tow trucks. Two drivers were sitting in the vehicles.

A man, who was a passenger in the pickup truck, stepped out of the vehicle and opened fire at one of the tow truck drivers.

The victim, also a man, put his vehicle into drive and tried to drive out of the parking lot but ended up crashing into the shooter's truck. The man continued shooting at him. The victim tried to drive away, but ultimately, he lost control of his tow truck and went off into a ditch, police said.

The shooter got back into the truck and fled in the vehicle south on Highway 404.

"At this point, we don't believe this is random," Nicolle said. "There's only one vehicle that was shot at. They weren't shooting at random vehicles throughout the parking lot."

No motive for the shooting

Nicolle said police have no idea what the motive.

"Right now, we don't have anything to suggest why this occurred," she said. "Obviously, they are going to be speaking to the individuals that were involved. Right now, we're too early in to speculate or rule anything out."

Nicolle said police do not know why there are bullet holes in the pickup and police believe there was only one shooter.

"We're not certain exactly how that might have occurred," she said. "It may have been a case of the suspect having poor aim or winding up shooting in the wrong sort of direction. We do know there was some moving around in terms of the victim's and suspect's vehicles."

York police are combing the area for security camera video.

Anybody with dashboard camera video of the parking lot, the shooting itself or the truck fleeing at high speed on Highway 404, is urged to come forward.

"We believe somebody is going to know who is responsible for this," she said.

Police release description

Police said the shooter is described as about five-foot-10, with a thin build. He was wearing a black balaclava mask, black gloves, light-coloured jeans and a black hooded jacket. Police have not released a description of the pickup truck driver.

Const. Scott Reid, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, said York police will examine the truck and is handling the investigation because the shooting happened in its jurisdiction.

"They will have ownership of it," Reid said.