Man Murdered And Dumped On 401 Near Keele

A startling crime has crippled traffic and sparked a city-wide hunt for a suspect after a man was shot several times before being tossed onto Highway 401 from a moving vehicle Tuesday. 

The bullet-ridden body tumbled onto the busy eastbound collector lanes near Keele St. around 2:45pm.  The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, but it's not yet clear if he was killed by the gunshots, or was hit by oncoming traffic.  The end result was the same however, and his body was covered by a blue tarp in the middle of the highway, where it remains.

As a result, the O.P.P. have completely closed all the eastbound collector lanes in the area.

It's believed the suspect's car, possibly a champagne-coloured Lexus, was seen racing away from the scene. Police believe that same vehicle was later found on fire at 2 Armel Court near Albion and Weston.  That's directly in front of the Humber Valley Golf Course, which was subsequently cleared while police c****ed the area.  The K-9 unit is on scene and police have set up a perimeter in the area. 

There are reports the person who owns the car may be a woman. She may also be the main suspect.  Torching a car is a classic way of destroying evidence, but it's not yet clear how the blaze was started.  If the suspect was indeed trying to burn evidence, they may not have succeeded.  Toronto Fire was on the scene quickly and it doesn't appear that the car was badly damaged.

In the meantime, fire trucks, ambulances and police continue to block all lanes of the highway where the body remains covered by a blue tarp.  Traffic stuck behind the probe has been diverted, but the entire area remains clogged and chaotic.  Drivers have been directed towards alternate routes like Lawrence, Wilson and Sheppard - and they too have quickly become plugged with traffic.

The closure is expected to last for several hours, since police have a large amount of evidence to process. Motorists are being advised to avoid the affected area if possible.

It means more highway havoc during the afternoon rush, and aggravates an already existing and unrelated mess near Avenue Road, after a truck spilled a load of wood in the westbound collector lanes, stopping traffic there, as well.

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Michael Serapio is at the scene and will have the full story on CityNews at Five and Six.