Man died during gun battle
By Chris Doucette First posted:
But with the “astronomical” amount of bullets that were fired in such a confined space early Saturday, the body count could easily have been much higher, the commander of the Toronto Police Homicide Squad says.
“Well over 25 shots were fired,” Staff-Insp. Gary Saunders said Tuesday. “I find that to be alarming.”
The veteran cop visited the scene at 32 Tobermory Dr. — east of Jane St. and Finch Ave. W. — and voiced his outrage over the callousness of the gunmen involved in the city’s 39th murder.
The gunfire erupted just before 2 a.m. in a small courtyard surrounded on four sides with townhouse units. Police won’t say if Rookwood was involved in the fire fight.
Innocent families sleeping in those homes could easily have been hit by stray bullets, Saunders said.
He said three men are sought in the suspected shootout, but he refused to say how many firearms were involved, but Saunders confirmed one gunman was armed with “a high-powered rifle.”
And one round from that high-powered rifle struck an apartment building across the street, piercing the brick “like a hot knife through butter.”
“It missed a bedroom window by about one foot,” Saunders said. “That I find disturbing.”
He said it’s also troubling the mortally wounded Rookwood was alone when officers found him.
At least 10 people were at the home that night, Saunders said, explaining everyone fled after the shooting.
Oddly, even the tenants of the bullet-riddled unit have yet to return to their home or contact police.
“There are definitely people who know what happened here,” Saunders said.
He said investigators are reviewing surveillance video from the area and he urged witnesses to come forward.
Kayla Murray, Rookwood’s cousin, said her family is struggling to come to grips with their loss, the second murder of a relative in just over a year.
“I still can’t believe it,” the 20-year-old said, explaining Rookwood lived with her family and was like a brother.
“He was a quiet person, a loving, caring person. I miss him,” Murray added.
Another cousin, Nate Thompson, 26, was lured to a townhouse near Jane St. and Sheppard Ave. W. and shot to death in July, 2010.
His killer also remains on the loose.
A second shooting victim turned up at a hospital with a gunshot wound not considered life threatening soon after Rookwood’s murder. But Saunders said detectives are still trying to confirm the second man was shot during the same incident.
Why the townhome was targeted is not yet known, he said.
One of the men sought by police is described as black, in his 20s and is 6-feet-tall. He wore dark clothes, a black ball cap and a backpack.
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