Bride Path home invasion leaves Toronto dad and daughter fighting for their lives: police

Three of four residents of a house in an affluent Toronto neighbourhood were shot during a violent home invasion early Thursday morning. Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun

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A Toronto father and his adult daughter are fighting for their lives in hospital after being shot during a violent home invasion in their affluent neighbourhood early Thursday morning.

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Two other members, the man’s wife and other daughter, are also in hospital with what Toronto Police Service said are non-life-threatening injuries suffered as a result of the incident in the Bridle Path area.

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In a Thursday morning news conference, Insp. Kristy Smith, of the TPS investigative unit Hold Up Squad, said officers were dispatched to the home on Bayview Avenue and Lawrence Avenue East around 4 a.m., where three masked suspects armed with handguns forced their way in through a rear door. One also carried a hammer, but Smith said it’s unclear if it was used to break into the home.

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“Once inside, they confronted the family,” Smith said.

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“A struggle ensued during this altercation, in which the suspects fired their guns multiple times, and one victim was struck with a hammer.”

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It was the mother who was hit with the tool, while her other daughter was shot, a police spokesperson earlier confirmed to CBC.

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At this time, police don’t believe the victims returned fire.

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The suspects, for whom there is no description, fled in an SUV after the attack, Toronto Police Operations posted on X.

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Smith said it was too early to determine if the home was targeted or the suspect’s motive, though she did imply it could be another case of a home invasion for the purpose of stealing a high-end vehicle, incidents of which she said are on the rise.

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“Typically in an affluent neighbourhood come nice things, and there’s always people out there that want to acquire nice things. And carjackings used to be a way that criminals would acquire cars. That seems to have transitioned into breaking into a home to steal a vehicle,” she said, noting the homeowner’s vehicle was not stolen.

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Smith went on to say citizens “can’t go around always being paranoid about having nice things,” but they should “be ultra aware” of whether they are being followed and contact 911 if they feel like they are.

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About 30 minutes after the incident, police also responded to a shooting in the area of The Queensway and Parkside Drive, at the opposite end of the city, where one adult male arrived at a hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. It’s unknown where the incident took place, and there’s no information about a suspect.