Police say witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots around 2:45 p.m. on George Street north of Adelaide Street East.John Leh
Toronto Police would not disclose whether they believe the brazen fatal shooting of a man on a downtown street is gang related.
Anastasios Leventis, who was 39 and lived in Quebec, was gunned down on George Street near Adelaide Street East on Monday afternoon. Witnesses said a man shot him multiple times and then fled in a waiting car.
A man with the same name and age was among 29 people arrested and charged in 2008 in an RCMP-led operation code-named Cancun against drug traffickers in the Mohawk communities of Kahnawake, Akwesasne and Kanesatake.
In December, 2009, the man pleaded guilty to conspiracy to export drugs and committing an indictable offence for a criminal organization.
Court heard that the man, a computer programmer by training, was allegedly the main marijuana supplier of a smuggling organization, which delivered the drug to American clients via the Akwesasne reserve, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border. Police searched his condo and found $60,000 in cash, seven cellphones, six BlackBerry devices and a money-counting machine.
A witness to Monday's fatal shooting said the gunman stood over the victim, who was lying face down on the sidewalk, shooting him repeatedly in the back with two guns.
Police said two semi-automatic handguns were recovered at the scene.
Jill Mahoney
Tu Thanh Ha