Toronto police homicide detectives say they are looking for a single suspect in the shooting death of an Ottawa man outside a hotel in one of the city's most posh neighbourhoods early Saturday morning.
At a Monday morning news conference, the lead homicide detective on the case identified the victim as 25-year-old Wesler Fabien of Ottawa. He is Toronto's 32nd homicide victim of 2009.
A 22-year-old male from Montreal, who is not being identified at this time, is recovering from the shooting in hospital.
Homicide Det. Michael Barsky told reporters that the two men returned to their hotel at Avenue Road and Bloor Street West around 4:30 a.m. after a night out in the entertainment district.
After parking their silver Range Rover in the hotel's parking lot, the two men were making their way back to the front of the building when they were approached from behind by a male shooter.
Both men were taken to hospital, where Fabien was later pronounced dead. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be gunshot wounds to the chest and heart.
The lone shooter fled the scene on foot, Barsky said.
According to Barsky, investigators don't believe the shooting was related to the Caribana festivities, which took place in the city over the weekend.
He said the two men had visited a number of clubs before heading back to their hotel.
"There is no indication at this time that there was any sort of problems with anybody in the entertainment district," Barsky said. "But there are a lot of clubs and a lot of people in the entertainment district, so I would encourage anybody that has any information that may differ from that to come forward."
Barsky said Fabien is "known to police," but he doesn't believe that is connected to his death.
While investigators are still pursuing a motive for the shooting and Barsky would not comment on whether the victims knew the shooter, he said it appears the gunman was waiting for the two men to return to the hotel.
Investigators have seized surveillance video from a number of sources and have questioned witnesses, Barsky said. However, he refrained from releasing a description of the suspect.
Barsky warned against drawing parallels to the shooting deaths of Dylan Ellis and Oliver Martin, who were shot and killed while sitting outside a downtown condominium in a Range Rover in June 2008. That murder remains unsolved.
"There are different dynamics in both cases," Barsky said. "I don't want to paint a picture that these are similar or related based on the fact that somebody's driving a Range Rover. I think these are unique attacks in their own right."
Anyone with information is asked to call the Toronto police homicide squad at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS.
