Toronto police investigating drive-by shooting; fourth homicide in 24 hours

TORONTO – Police say an unarmed woman was killed in a drive-by shooting in north Toronto early Sunday morning.

Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders says the incident is indicative of a problematic "street gang subculture" in the city.

Video footage of the incident shows a silver SUV circling a neighbourhood before passing a vehicle.

Det. David Dickinson says a person in the SUV fired a single shot into that vehicle, striking 31-year-old Jenas Nyarko and killing her.

He says she was in the back passenger seat of the vehicle at the time of the shooting, on her way home from a funeral.

Dickinson says there's nothing in Nyarko's past to suggest she could have been targeted by the shooter, nor is there anything to suggest the three other people in the car might have been targets.

Nyarko's death is one of four alleged homicides in Toronto over a 24-hour period, though police say there's no indication at this time that they are connected.

Saunders says the amount of violence in the city is troubling, noting that there are on average five more shootings per month this year than last.

He told a news conference that he doesn't like those numbers, but that they are not "catastrophic."