Witnesses Sought To Pizza Shop Shooting
Abdul Monir, 31, was gunned down shortly after completing his shift at Halal Pizza Time at 561 Markham Rd.Another employee, who was in the shop at the time and called 9-1-1, was also shot. Police have no reason to believe the victims were specifically targeted.
He’s still recovering in hospital and police have been unable to speak with him since the incident.
At a media conference at police headquarters on September 30, Detective Sergeant Graham Gibson released video footage collected from the scene and surrounding areas that shows images of the suspect’s vehicle dropping off what police believe is a male suspect in the area.
The footage also shows the suspect being picked up at a different location after the shooting.
“The purpose of releasing video is an attempt to trigger potential witnesses’ memories,” said Gibson. “Witnesses may have seen something important that night and they may not at first not have remembered it. But seeing video may trigger their memory and they may realize that what they saw is actually important. So I am going to be urging them to contact me.”
The footage also shows an individual who was in the area of the pizza shop at the time of the shooting.
“I want to stress that this is a witness and not a person of interest or suspect,” Gibson said. “If this person recognizes themselves on the video or somebody recognizes this witness, I would like them to contact me personally.”
Gibson said the potential witness might be a woman.
“I believe it is,” he said. “We have spoken to other people in the area and they spoke about seeing this witness and describing her as wearing a form of head scarf and possibly living in the area from what they can remember. That’s why I believe she’s probably in that area, but we have been unable to locate her despite our canvassing… I believe she would have definitely being in a position to hear the shots.”
Gibson believes that the pizza shop was the target of the robbery.
“I believe the employees got caught up in this plan to rob the pizza parlour,” he added.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400 or Gibson directly at 416-808-7400 ext. 77405, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at 222tips.com, text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637), or Leave A Tip on Facebook. Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World.
