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Registered Member
A 48-year-old Toronto police officer was fatally shot at close range and died at the scene in an unprovoked “ambush” attack in Mississauga as part of a shooting rampage that continued into Milton and left one other person dead and three injured, police officials said Monday.
The gunman was taken into custody and pronounced dead in Hamilton. That incident is now the subject of an investigation by Ontario’s police watchdog.
“It is with profound sadness that I announce the death of Toronto Police Service Constable Andrew Hong of Traffic Services,” Toronto Police Chief James Ramer said at a news conference alongside his counterparts from Peel and Halton regions in Mississauga Monday night.
Ramer said Hong was a 22-year-veteran of the force who was also a father of two, a husband, a brother and a son. The chief said he met with the fallen officer’s family earlier today.
“I committed to his family that they will have the full support of the Toronto Police Service every day going forward,” Ramer said. “This is devastating news for his family and for all members of the Toronto Police Service and our entire policing community.”
Peel Police Chief Chief Nishan Duraiappah said the officer was in Mississauga for a training exercise and was attacked while on a break in the area of Argentia Road and Winston Churchill Boulevard, at around 2:15 p.m.
“While on lunch break, he was shot in an unprovoked and may I say an ambush attack and succumbed to his injuries,” Duraiappah said. “In the same incident, a second innocent victim suffered life-altering gunshot injuries and is currently being treated at a trauma center in the GTA.”
Following the shooting, police said they were searching for a suspect described as a Black male with a thin build and black hair who was wearing all black with a yellow construction vest. They said he was armed and dangerous and that it was “imperative” that anyone who spots the suspect or his vehicle – described as a black jeep Cherokee with licence plate # CLMZ 905 – call 911 immediately.
A short time after the first shooting, Halton police said they were investigating another shooting which occurred at an auto body shop at Main Street and Bronte Street in Milton around 2:50 p.m.
Three people were shot in that incident. Police said one of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were transported to a regional hospital for treatment.
Halton Police Chief Stephen Tanner said the surviving victims sustained critical and serious injuries, respectively.
Police issued a public safety alert for the GTA about an active shooter following the two daylight shootings in Mississauga and Milton.
Tanner said his officers later engaged the suspect.
“Members of the Halton Regional Police Service did engage with the suspect later on this afternoon and that is now a subject of a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigation. And of course as you know, we are unable to comment on that investigation,” Tanner said.
TIMELINE: GTA shooting rampage leaves two people dead
Hamilton’s police chief said Monday evening that one person was fatally shot in a cemetery in that city in connection with the other shootings.
The SIU, which probes all incidents where police are involved in a death or serious injury, confirmed that they were notified of a police-involved shooting on York Boulevard in Hamilton involving a Halton police officer and that they have invoked their mandate.
In a statement, the SIU said Hamilton and Halton officers located the suspect at around 4:30 p.m.
“There was an interaction and officers shot the man in Mount Hamilton Cemetery near York Boulevard,” the SIU said.
Paramedics were called but the man died at the scene.
The SIU has assigned seven investigators and two forensic investigators to the case.
Peel police rescinded the active shooter alert at around 5:30 p.m.
“I just wanted to let the public know because I know when we issued the alert, that it frightens the public but as of right now, I can tell you that there is no threat to public safety, and we are in the process of retracting that provincial alert,” Peel police Const. Heather Cannon told reporters.
There is no word yet as to what motivated to the shootings and the gunman has not been identified.
The gunman was taken into custody and pronounced dead in Hamilton. That incident is now the subject of an investigation by Ontario’s police watchdog.
“It is with profound sadness that I announce the death of Toronto Police Service Constable Andrew Hong of Traffic Services,” Toronto Police Chief James Ramer said at a news conference alongside his counterparts from Peel and Halton regions in Mississauga Monday night.
Ramer said Hong was a 22-year-veteran of the force who was also a father of two, a husband, a brother and a son. The chief said he met with the fallen officer’s family earlier today.
“I committed to his family that they will have the full support of the Toronto Police Service every day going forward,” Ramer said. “This is devastating news for his family and for all members of the Toronto Police Service and our entire policing community.”
Peel Police Chief Chief Nishan Duraiappah said the officer was in Mississauga for a training exercise and was attacked while on a break in the area of Argentia Road and Winston Churchill Boulevard, at around 2:15 p.m.
“While on lunch break, he was shot in an unprovoked and may I say an ambush attack and succumbed to his injuries,” Duraiappah said. “In the same incident, a second innocent victim suffered life-altering gunshot injuries and is currently being treated at a trauma center in the GTA.”
Following the shooting, police said they were searching for a suspect described as a Black male with a thin build and black hair who was wearing all black with a yellow construction vest. They said he was armed and dangerous and that it was “imperative” that anyone who spots the suspect or his vehicle – described as a black jeep Cherokee with licence plate # CLMZ 905 – call 911 immediately.
A short time after the first shooting, Halton police said they were investigating another shooting which occurred at an auto body shop at Main Street and Bronte Street in Milton around 2:50 p.m.
Three people were shot in that incident. Police said one of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene, while two others were transported to a regional hospital for treatment.
Halton Police Chief Stephen Tanner said the surviving victims sustained critical and serious injuries, respectively.
SUSPECT SHOT BY POLICE IN HAMILTON
Halton police said at the time they were looking for the same vehicle sought in the Mississauga shooting and that it was last seen near Appleby Line and Hwy. 407.Police issued a public safety alert for the GTA about an active shooter following the two daylight shootings in Mississauga and Milton.
Tanner said his officers later engaged the suspect.
“Members of the Halton Regional Police Service did engage with the suspect later on this afternoon and that is now a subject of a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) investigation. And of course as you know, we are unable to comment on that investigation,” Tanner said.
TIMELINE: GTA shooting rampage leaves two people dead
Hamilton’s police chief said Monday evening that one person was fatally shot in a cemetery in that city in connection with the other shootings.
The SIU, which probes all incidents where police are involved in a death or serious injury, confirmed that they were notified of a police-involved shooting on York Boulevard in Hamilton involving a Halton police officer and that they have invoked their mandate.
In a statement, the SIU said Hamilton and Halton officers located the suspect at around 4:30 p.m.
“There was an interaction and officers shot the man in Mount Hamilton Cemetery near York Boulevard,” the SIU said.
Paramedics were called but the man died at the scene.
The SIU has assigned seven investigators and two forensic investigators to the case.
Peel police rescinded the active shooter alert at around 5:30 p.m.
“I just wanted to let the public know because I know when we issued the alert, that it frightens the public but as of right now, I can tell you that there is no threat to public safety, and we are in the process of retracting that provincial alert,” Peel police Const. Heather Cannon told reporters.
There is no word yet as to what motivated to the shootings and the gunman has not been identified.
