NEWS

Homicide victim not yet identified

SEARCHING FOR CLUES: Toronto Police look for evidence near where the body of a 22-year-old man was found dead Thursday morning. The death has been ruled a homicide.
SEARCHING FOR CLUES: Toronto Police look for evidence near where the body of a 22-year-old man was found dead Thursday morning. The death has been ruled a homicide.

A 22-year-old man is dead and Toronto Police homicide detectives are investigating after the victim was found dead with severe neck trauma in North Toronto.

The victim, who had not been identified by police as of Friday afternoon, was found behind a low-rise apartment building at 199 Upper Canada Dr. at about 8 a.m. on Thursday. Officers at the scene said he was found face down between two trees on a steep embankment at the back of the Yonge Street and Highway 401 area building.

Police said on Thursday they believe the victim had been killed sometime overnight.

Longtime neighbourhood resident Louise Gosschalk said while watching TV at about 8 p.m. she thought she heard “a single gunshot.”

Police said on Thursday afternoon several witnesses had come forward claiming they heard one gunshot Wednesday night, but no evidence of the homicide being a shooting had been found at that point.

Another resident, who didn’t want to be named because of fear of retaliation, said the only crimes she’s heard of in the neighbourhood in the 53 years she’s lived there have been break-and-enters. She says the murder has left her “very uncomfortable.”

“I want to go for a walk now,” she said. “But I don’t think I want to walk by myself.”

Police said there were no security cameras in the area, and they do not have a suspect description.

The killing is the city’s 33rd homicide of the year, and third in three days. Despite the recent rash of murders, Toronto is still on pace for its lowest homicide rate in more than 20 years.

Though shaken by a violent incident so close to home, Gosschalk said her opinion of the area hasn’t changed.

“It’s such a good neighbourhood,” she said. “It’s a safe neighbourhood.”