Five people were killed when a gunman stormed into a condo board meeting in Toronto, Canada on Sunday and opened fire, cops said.
Police were called to a residential building in Vaughan, Ontario, at about 7.20pm on Sunday to reports of an active male shooter who had shot several victims at a condo in Vaughan, Ontario.
Suspect Shot Dead by Police
The gunman was shot and killed by police at the condo after going on his murderous rampage, according to Chief James MacSween of York regional police.
“When police arrived, an interaction occurred between the officers and a male subject and the subject was shot. He was pronounced deceased at the scene,” MacSween said in a statement released late on Sunday.
“Horrendous scene,” MacSween said. “Six deceased. One of them is the subject. The other five are victims.” In addition to the five dead, one other person was struck by gunfire and was recovering at a hospital on Sunday night.
Who is Francesco Villi?
Ontario’s special investigations unit, which becomes involved when there is a death or serious injury involving police, is now investigating the shooting.
The gunman’s identity was not released late Sunday and a motive for the violence was not yet known. However, social media users are claiming the shooter is an individual named Francesco Villi, who posted several videos about “injustice” and “torture” from board members of the residential building where the shooting took place. Villi appears to be a resident of the building.
In one of the videos posted on Facebook, Villi accuses some of the board members of manipulating the judges and the court system against him. “I did not have to do this,” Villi says as he claims he’s being denied comfort in his own home for seven years.
According to reports, Villi was involved in a legal dispute with board members of the condo, Belleria Residences, over the poor air quality in his unit. He was scheduled for a hearing with the condo board committee today.In other videos on his Facebook profile, Villi complains about having a dripping nose due to the bad air quality in his apartment.
Mass shootings are rare in Canada and Toronto has long prided itself as being one of the safest big cities in the world. In 2020, shortly after a gunman shot and killed 13 people in Portapique, Nova Scotia, Canada banned more than 1,500 models of “assault-style” firearms and components, and set limits on how destructive bullets could be.