Forensic investigators with the Toronto Police Service are now combing the scene for evidence.
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Toronto police responded to a call around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday after witnesses reported gunfire near the intersection of Bedford Road and Prince Arthur Avenue.
“He’s a very prominent lawyer who defends drug cases”, Ruby said Tuesday afternoon.
Paramedics say they transported two men to a trauma centre in serious condition. “He wasn’t somebody working out on the periphery”, said criminal defence lawyer Greg LaFontaine, who has known Barrs for more than 25 years.
Lawyer J. Randall Barrs.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit remained at the scene Tuesday evening.
The SIU has said that several plainclothes Halton police officers were “conducting surveillance in the area” at the time of the initial shooting; however it is not clear whether they were following the gunman.
Halton Regional Police confirmed its officers were involved in the incident.
The violent attack comes as a shock, LaFontaine said.
When he stepped out, he saw a man slumped over in the front seat of his vehicle, which is still at the scene, boxed in by a black SUV at the front and a silver SUV at the back. “But then I saw people outside running and I thought, ‘It’s got to be shots, ‘” he said.
When he left his restaurant, Fieramosca, steps from Prince Arthur Avenue and Bedford Road, Vertani saw a silver Honda Civic boxed in by two SUVs.
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According to court records, Barrs has represented a number of Toronto bars and clubs in matters before the Alcohol and Gaming Commission.
