Three killed in Toronto crossbow attack
POLICE LINK TORONTO DEATHS TO BOMB THREAT
A35-year-old man is believed to have used a crossbow to kill two men and a woman on Thursday in the garage of an east Toronto bungalow, leaving them crying out in agony as they bled out onto a driveway.
One of the three victims managed to make a 911 call to alert police just before 1 p.m., but all were dead by the time the first officers arrived, according to Det.Sgt. Mike Carbone.
The suspect, who was also seriously injured, was taken into custody but has not yet been charged or named. The victims’ identities are also being withheld until their families are notified, but they are reported to be all related.
A little more than an hour after the killings, a separate criminal investigation was unfolding 20 kilometres away, downtown on the city’s waterfront. In response to an alert about a possible bomb threat, police dispatched members of the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear team to a condominium building, and closed the surrounding street. Children at a daycare in the building were ordered to shelter in place until the threat was cleared around 5 p.m.
Police now believe these two investigations are somehow linked. It is not clear whether the report of the bomb threat came from the murder suspect himself, who was in police custody by that time, or from someone else.
Behind an orange police tarp at the murder scene, a large bloodstain was visible on the driveway of the well-kept bungalow, which has an ornamental butterfly by the front door. By the evening, rain was washing it away.
Jerome Cruz, who lives in the house that backs onto the murder scene, heard the commotion, a slamming door, and someone yelling “calm down, calm down,” and then screaming. This lasted about five minutes, then all was silent. His wife Vijaya was inside. She said they hardly knew their neighbours.
Two doors down, Herbert Kolmegies wondered how anyone could reload a crossbow fast enough to kill three people. Specific details of the victims’ injuries are not known, though police did confirm a crossbow was found, and the victims appear to have been injured by a crossbow bolt. The incident was initially reported as a stabbing.
Paramedics were dispatched at 12:57 p.m. in response to “multiple traumas.” Three adults, two men and a woman, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Evert Steege, deputy commander at Toronto Paramedic Services.
Property records indicate the house is owned by William and Susan Ryan, who purchased it in 2010, and discharged a mortgage last year. William Ryan is reported to have died last year, around the same time the property was transferred to Susan.
One resident, who did not wish to be identified, said the area is unusual for its suburban peacefulness, given how close it is to some of Toronto’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
The use of a crossbow was particularly striking, and the unusual weapon made news in Europe and America, as well as across Canada. In Toronto, it recalled the
THE AREA IS UNUSUAL FOR ITS SUBURBAN PEACEFULNESS.
2010 murder of Si (William) Cheng, whose son followed him to an east-end library, shot him through the heart with a crossbow as the patrons scattered in panic, then crushed his skull with a hammer. His son, Zhou (Peter) Fang, was sentenced to life for second-degree murder.
Crossbows are typically made of aluminum and plastic, while the arrows — or bolts — are typically carbon fibre or aluminum with an average length of 50 centimetres. Their average shooting distance is 55 metres, according to Chris Kelly, owner of Kelly’s Sporting Goods in Inwood, Ont. People typically buy them for deer hunting, he said.
The only restriction on buying full-sized crossbows in the province is that you must be at least 18 years old. Smaller, hand-held crossbows are prohibited.
Kelly estimated it takes an average of 15 to 20 seconds for someone to fire, reload and then re-cock, though someone who is very proficient could bring it down to 10 seconds. It takes some “muscle and effort,” about 150 to 175 pounds of draw weight, to re-cock a bow, he said.
Police said no other suspects are being sought.