The person who opened fire and killed five people at an apartment constructing in Toronto, Canada, on Sunday has been identified by police as 73-year-old Francesco Villa.
Villa was shot dead by officers responding to a constructing in Vaughan, Ontario, where he began a violent rampage against his apartment’s board members – with whom he apparently had a long-running feud.
Villa, who also lived in the constructing, reportedly went door-to-door attacking specific residents he believed had wronged him. He has also targeted his condominium management in lawsuits spanning years, in line with the Toronto Star.
Police haven’t released an official motive for the “terrifying” crime. At a press conference on Monday afternoon, Police Chief Jim MacSween confirmed that Villa was the shooter, but said police were unable to publicly discover the victims.
He said three men and two women had been killed, and three of the victims were members of the apartment management. One other woman was injured and stays in hospital while receiving treatment.
![Francesco Villi](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/toronto-condo-board-murder-023.jpg?w=640)
![A letter written by Villa complaining about the conditions in his block](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/toronto-condo-board-murder-040.jpg?w=1024)
“A terrifying scene,” said MacSween. “Six dead. One in every of them is the topic. The opposite five are victims.
The chief said there was no further threat to the community and he hoped residents would return to the constructing.
![Shooting in Toronto](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/condo-shooting-vaughan-ontario-0021.jpg?w=1024)
![He posted his picture of Villa on social media](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/toronto-condo-board-murder-028.jpg?w=768)
During a midday briefing, the Special Investigation Unit confirmed that the shooter had used a semi-automatic handgun in the horrific attack.
A spokesman said Villa died while interacting with police in the constructing’s hallway. Officials recovered his guns but were unable to say whether the guns were legally acquired.
Based on court documents obtained by the Toronto Star, the apartment board previously filed a restraining order against Villa over his “allegedly threatening, abusive, intimidating and harassing conduct.”
Over the years, Villa has made many baseless allegations against members of the apartment board, sharing a series of bizarre posts and videos on social media that he believed were deliberately attempting to hurt him.
Villa also claimed in the lawsuit that the electrical room beneath his premises was not properly constructed and emitted “electromagnetic waves” that had been causing him pain since 2010. He also posted a photograph of the letter on Facebook claiming he had “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease” and needed to be in a dust and pollution-free environment.
His most up-to-date case against three board members and three others was dismissed by a judge in September as “frivolous and/or vexatious.”
The present board member of the apartment, Tony Cutrone, told the Star that he joined the board partly because his elderly mother had been bullied by Villa in the past.
Cutrone said he had been attempting to contact several board members since Sunday.
“I sent a message and tried to call them but they didn’t call back,” he said, still shaken by the horrific incident.
Cutrone said he was working with police to search out advice for residents like his mother who weren’t targeted by the shooting but were affected by it.
![](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/toronto-condo-board-murder-037.jpg?w=774)
Resident John Santoro, a member of the apartment board for a couple of 12 months, recalled Villa’s inconsistent complaints from at the least five years ago.
Chatting with reporters outside the constructing, he said Villa was “not a monster” and had all the time felt he needed “skilled help”.
“I told my wife several times that it was going to finish very badly,” he said.
Mass shootings are extremely rare in Canada, and Toronto has long been considered one in every of the safest cities in the world.
After a gunman shot and killed 22 people in Portapique, Nova Scotia in 2022, Canada banned the sale of greater than 1,500 models of “assault weapons and components” and placed further restrictions on the varieties of bullets people should purchase.