Toronto police identify victims in deadly North York shooting

Police have identified two victims killed in a shooting inside an office space in Toronto’s North York neighbourhood.

Gunfire broke out in the lobby of the building near Don Mills and Mallard roads, south of York Mills Road, on Monday shortly after 3:30 p.m.

The suspected gunman, along with a man and a woman, were found dead in the building shortly after the arrival of police, investigators told reporters on Monday.

Police identified the victims as 54-year-old Toronto resident Arash Missaghi and 44-year-old Concord resident Samira Yousefi in a release on Tuesday.

Sources previously told CP24 that the pair were co-owners of the business.

The third deceased was a 46-year-old man who is believed to be responsible for the shooting, police said. Officers did not provide the suspect’s name.

Investigators have released few details about what transpired but previously said that an altercation took place inside “some sort of financial transaction” business.

Jon Burnside, the local city councillor, visited the scene on Tuesday, noting the heightened sense of concern in his ward as residents try to understand what happened.

“The violence seems to be in every community, it seems to be random,” Burnside said.

“This just takes it to a whole other level.”

Nearby Northmount School, an independent all-boys Catholic school located next to the scene of the shooting, was briefly placed under a lockdown order on Monday afternoon, along with St. George Mini School & Infant Care, a daycare facility that operates in a nearby building.

Cameras captured several young children from the daycare being wheeled outside in cribs and reunited with their parents and guardians after the lockdown order was lifted.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said that members of the Community Crisis Response Program team will be on site to support people in the neighbourhood.

With files from CP24’s Joanna Lavoie