Man found dead in Lawrence Heights apartment; police seek suspect in homicide investigation

A man was found dead inside a fourth-floor unit of a Toronto community housing building in the Lawrence Heights area Sunday morning, and police are investigating the death as a homicide.

Officers responded to reports of a disturbance in the home near Lawrence Avenue West and Allen Road just before 8:30 a.m. Sunday. The man was pronounced dead at the scene with what police described as "obvious traumatic injuries." The victim has not been identified and does not appear to have lived in the building. No other injuries were reported.

Police say a number of people, including the suspect, fled from the fourth-floor unit. The Toronto homicide unit has taken over the investigation.

Detective Sergeant Sajeev Nair said officers responded to the disturbance and secured the scene. Nair could not say whether the suspect and victim knew each other. Police would not confirm how the man died or whether a gun was involved. Police are unable to provide a description of the suspect at this time.

The building has a significant amount of video surveillance. "It's only a matter of time before we have a good image of the suspect," Nair told reporters, and the homicide unit is seeking public assistance to locate the suspect and identify the victim.

Councillor Mike Colle said he was not entirely sure how the man died. "Unless people in Toronto and across the GTA wake up and understand that these gun criminals do not fear consequences, because they know if they commit a crime they're going to be out on bail in a week," Colle said. "I was really dreading that this would happen because it's been so good in the last five years, the community has been doing so much work, and this shatters all that good work."