(Vaughan) Three members of the board of directors of a condominium building were among five people killed Sunday evening in the building in suburban Toronto by a 73-year-old resident who went to several units and used a semi-automatic handgun, authorities said Monday.
Police say the suspect, Francesco Villi, allegedly killed three men and two women Sunday night in Vaughan. Police did not provide further details of the victims. A 66-year-old woman who was also shot in her apartment was hospitalized.
York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween said the “tragic shooting” ended after officers were called to the building shortly before 7.30pm on Sunday. The officers followed the suspect to the third floor, where an officer shot him dead.
“The motive for the shooting is part of this very complicated and very fluid investigation, which is still ongoing at this time,” Mr MacSween told a news conference.
Court documents indicate that a man with the same name as the alleged shooter had been in a dispute for some time with the board of directors of his condominium building.
Mr. Villi filed a lawsuit in 2020 against six board directors and officers. He then alleged that the members of the council “committed acts of crime and criminality from 2010”.
He alleged that administrators deliberately subjected him to five years of “torment” and “torture” related to alleged problems with the electrical room under his condo, according to court documents. Judge Joseph Di Luca dismissed the lawsuit last summer, calling it “frivolous” and “vexatious.”
Court documents also show Mr Villi was due back in court on Monday as the board sought to have him evicted for nuisance.
Other court documents also show that the council had in 2018 applied for a restraining order against Mr Villi, for his “allegedly threatening, abusive, intimidating and harassing behavior” towards the council, property management, workers and residents of the building.
John DiNino, a council member named in the court documents, told The Canadian Press that his wife, Doreen, was shot dead in the apartment building on Sunday and was undergoing emergency surgery on Monday.
On the Facebook page of a man named Francesco Villi, an online video was posted hours before Sunday’s shooting. In it, a man identifies himself, lists the address of the building where the shooting took place and says that he is a resident of the condominium.
The video also shows the man calling a board member a “monster” and alleging that building owners, condo board members, lawyers and judges are conspiring against him.
“Everyone is working to destroy me,” he says in this 16-minute video. I will never become one of you – liars, demons – ever. »
Tony Cutrone, a board member of the condo since March, said he owns a unit in the building where his 79-year-old mother lives. He said he joined the council because a man named Francesco Villi was harassing his mother and other elderly residents.
He claims that Mr. Villi walked around with his cane, yelled at the residents and said offensive and hurtful things to them. Once Mr Cutrone joined the board, he said he learned that Mr Villi had long been complaining about noises coming from an electrical room.
“He harassed anyone and everyone,” Cutrone said. We couldn’t keep the housekeepers, the managers, the security. No one wanted to work there. »
Mr Cutrone said there was not much the board could do. “We were handcuffed,” he said, adding that he never suspected the situation could lead to violence. “I didn’t think he would go that far. […] I thought he was just barking. »
“Police Police” in Ontario said Monday the suspected shooter was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday night. A semi-automatic handgun was recovered from the scene, the Special Investigations Unit said.
Police could not clarify whether the alleged shooter was a registered gun owner.
About 15 patrol cars and a forensic identification truck were present outside the building on Monday. Residents who had been evacuated the day before were able to return to the building early Monday morning.
In a statement posted online, Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca paid tribute to the “brave first responders,” while offering condolences on behalf of the city to the families of the victims. Premier Doug Ford also said he was troubled by the “senseless violence.”
The SIU said six investigators, including two in forensics, had been assigned to analyze the police response to the shooting. The SIU is called upon to investigate when police conduct may have resulted in death or serious injury.