Police killed one man and arrested another after a violent home invasion in Markham Thursday morning.
Officers descended on the scene of a residence on Steele Valley Rd. near Bayview and Steeles Aves. at about 5:15am.
When they arrived they confronted two suspects in the front of a home, at least one of whom was armed with a gun.
Shots rang out, one of them hitting and killing one of the suspects as he tried to flee in a white pickup truck. The other fled the scene.
That led to a massive manhunt involving Emergency Task Force officers from Toronto, York and Durham forces, including the Durham police helicopter.
“I was on my morning walk and I went to see what was going on,” one area resident recalled. “I saw someone running across the street. Then, the next thing I knew another gentleman came running down and said that this person matched the description of the suspect. Within minutes police cars were in the area.”
Police set up a perimeter, shutting the intersections of Bayview and Steeles and Proctor Ave. near Bayview, and fanned out across the area.
At about 8:30am they tracked the second suspect, whom they’d considered armed and dangerous, to a second house nearby where he'd apparently broken in in order to hide. He’d apparently made a cellphone call to his girlfriend at one point, saying he was in trouble.
The man was arrested following a dramatic takedown that saw the suspect climb out of a second storey window onto the roof.
It's unclear whether he was armed when he was taken into custody. Suffering non-life threatening gunshot wounds from the initial confrontation with the cops, he was transported to hospital.
According to a spokesperson for the Toronto Police, two teens inside the second house called 9-1-1 to let them know that the suspect was inside.
"(Residents) were good enough to get on the phone and did a good job, so we were able to arrest this person as he came out of the door," the officer described.
There’s no word yet on charges. The suspects were apparently known to police.
Two people living in the home involved in the invasion were taken to hospital, suffering from minor injuries.
The province's Special Investigations Unit has been called in to probe the incident. The S.I.U. looks into all matters involving police and civilians that result in serious injury or death.
Source