Video of Toronto plaza shooting released as police search for suspects

Toronto police have released video showing two shooters firing into a crowded plaza in North York last month that left a university student from Brampton dead.

On Saturday, Toronto police provided an update into the Aug. 27 shooting that occurred in the area of Sheppard Avenue West and Abraham Welsh Road, east of Weston Road.

Det. Sgt. Brandon Price of the homicide unit said three suspects arrived at the plaza in a vehicle.

“The suspect driver remained in the driver’s seat as two shooters exited the vehicle and fired numerous rounds indiscriminately in the direction of the far parking lot in the east end of the plaza,” Price told reporters on Saturday.

In the video, a white SUV stops at the entrance of the plaza on Abraham Welsh Road, and two people get out of the vehicle. Shortly, they are seen firing shots towards the plaza before returning to the vehicle, which then drives away.

A still from a video released by Toronto police show two individuals opening fire at a plaza in North York on Aug. 27, 2024. (Toronto Police Service)

The video jumps to another security camera that caught the two individuals opening fire at the entrance of the plaza.

He said the plaza was busy at the time, teeming with people who scrambled to take cover when gunfire erupted.

Arslan Ahmad, who was visiting a friend in the area and was in the plaza to buy some items, was struck by gunfire. He suffered critical injuries and was transported to the hospital, where he died six days later.

“This individual was a university student in the last days of the summer break,” Price said. “So totally an unfortunate tragic circumstance that befell him.”

Arslan Ahmad, 21, is Toronto’s 58th homicide victim of 2024. He was killed when two suspects opened fire at a plaza in North York on Aug. 27, 2024. (Toronto Police Service)

Price said another person also sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting.

Meanwhile, the shooters returned to the vehicle and sped away. They were last seen travelling south on Weston Road.

Police have limited descriptions of the two shooters. One has a thin build and wore dark pants, dark shoes, a dark hoodie, and a mask at the time. The other is described as being taller than the first suspect, with a thin build and wearing a grey hoodie, dark pants, dark shoes, and a mask.

The suspect vehicle is a newer model white RAV4 with a black roof, black rims, tinted windows and believed to have a vanity plate.

A two-toned RAV4 is seen in this still driving away from the scene of a shooting in North York on Aug. 27, 2024. (Toronto Police Service)

Price said prior to the shooting, the suspects were driving around the area for several minutes.

“This cowardly act of these individuals firing a hundred-meter distance with pistols is completely ridiculous and dangerous to like dozens of people in that area at the time,” the homicide detective said, noting that many stores were open at the time.

“These are unbelievably upsetting, and they’re just so dangerous for so many people. It’s so careless and cowardly of the individuals carrying out this kind of behaviour.”

Price asked anyone who was in the area at the time and may have video or other information to contact police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.