The man who opened fire and killed five people at a suburban Toronto condominium building was identified as 73-year-old Francesco Villi.
According to reports, Villi targeted the people who were members of his condo board. He is said to have a longstanding dispute with them.
On Sunday, the gunman went several floors and launched a violent rampage against the board members whom he felt had wronged him by filing lawsuits against him.
Toronto Star newspaper, citing court documents, reported that the condo board members earlier filed a restraining order against Villi over his “allegedly threatening, abusive, intimidating and harassing behaviour.”
Villi had also filed a lawsuit against six directors and officers of the board in 2020, alleging that the board members “committed acts of crime and criminality from 2010 onwards.”
Among the deceased were three men and two women, of which three of the victims were members of the condo board. Another woman was injured and remains hospitalised.
Villi was later killed during a confrontation with the police at the hallway of the building in Vaughan, Ontario.
The police had described the murder sit as a “horrendous scene where numerous victims were deceased.”
Police have not yet disclosed the possible motive for the attack or released the names or ages of the victims.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit spokesperson Kristy Denette said that the attacker carried a semiautomatic handgun and that investigators don’t believe he exchanged fire with the officer who killed him.
Police said that there was no further threat to the community and was hoping to get residents back into the building.
(With inputs from agencies)
