Cops search for drive-by suspect
Man was shot to death after driver approached and shot into his vehicle
Police are searching for a white BMW after they say the driver of a vehicle matching that description fired into a car that pulled alongside it, killing 38year-old Christopher Reid.
On May 7, police and emergency services were called to the scene of a collision just before noon at Kipling Ave. and Longfield Rd. (near Eglinton Ave.), where they discovered the sole occupant of a black vehicle that crashed on the front lawn of a property was suffering life-threatening injuries not from the collision, but from gunshot wounds. Reid was rushed to hospital, but died Thursday morning, prompting the homicide unit to take over the investigation.
An autopsy has confirmed gunshot wounds caused his death, Det. Leslie Dunkley said at a news conference Friday.
Reid, who Dunkley said was a father, was on his way to visit relatives the day he was killed.
Dunkley released numerous clips from surveillance footage showing the suspect vehicle and Reid’s vehicle travelling along various roads before their interaction.
He said both vehicles followed the same path, driving east along Eglinton Ave. from the area of Highways 427 and 401, turning right onto Lloyd Manor Rd., and finally turning left onto Longfield Rd.
The victim’s vehicle, a black Hyundai, was trailing behind the suspect’s vehicle, Dunkley said, but he couldn’t speak to whether Reid was following the suspect or not.
“Whether he just happened to be going the same direction or not is hard to say. What we know is that it was about a 12 to 14 second gap between the victim vehicle and the suspect vehicle.”
It was on Longfield Rd. that the suspect’s vehicle came to a stop “in the middle of the road,” Dunkley said. Reid’s vehicle pulled up alongside the white BMW on its left side. Reid’s car windows were down. The driver of the BMW fired from the driver’s side window through the passenger side of Reid’s Hyundai, striking him on the right side of his body, Dunkley said. Exactly how many times he was hit, Dunkley couldn’t say, only specifying that “more than one” shot struck him.
The black Hyundai then took off, fleeing further east along Longfield Rd. Around 150 metres later, the vehicle “jumped the curb and came to a standstill,” on the front lawn of a property at Stanthorpe Crt. The BMW followed at first, then took off southbound on Kipling Ave.
Dunkley said that there’s “no evidence” at this time that they knew each other.
The full description of the suspect’s vehicle is a white, four door, late model BMW X6, from 2008 or newer, Dunkley said. Police are looking to speak with registered owners of cars that fit this description, as well as anyone who believes they may have witnessed this incident. Witnesses can contact police directly or Crime Stoppers.