With the sound of gunfire echoing through the room around him at MK Auto Repairs, all he could do was keep his head down on a desk. “I was just waiting to die,” he told CBC News in an interview at the store, which is about 50 kilometers west of Toronto. Afzal was one of three people shot at the car shop around 2.50pm that afternoon. Business owner Shakeel Ashraf, 38, was killed, while a 28-year-old international student who also worked there remains on life support and is not expected to survive. This is over Toronto police Const. Andrew Hong, 48, who was fatally shot about half an hour earlier in Mississauga, as well as a carjacking victim, who is in stable condition in hospital but suffered “life-changing” injuries, police said. Investigators have identified Sean Petrie, 40, as the suspect in all of the shootings. Petrie himself was later killed during an encounter with police at a Hamilton cemetery. WATCHES | Afzal describes the attack:
Shooting victim describes harrowing encounter
Muhammad Shiraz Afzal was one of three people shot in a Milton, Ont. car shop on monday. Afzal said he was dealing with a customer at the store’s front desk when he started hearing noises from the back. At first, he thought they were normal sounds you might hear in an auto shop, like forging or welding. But as the noises got closer, he realized someone was firing a gun.
The victim was shot in the leg
“This guy came right here in front of me,” he said, gesturing to a spot in the store, “and he yelled at me and started shooting.” “The first fire was the one that went through my leg,” he said, pointing to a bullet hole in the desk. The man then fired another shot that almost hit his head but missed, leaving a bullet hole on the other side of the desk. “Then on the third shot he fired again, he went for my head – that’s what hit that guy,” he said, referring to the 28-year-old international student. Bullet holes could be seen punched into surfaces throughout the store. (Trevor Wilson/CBC) There was no way out — until he heard the “click click” of the sniper’s empty clip. “Then I got up and started running outside,” Afzal said. Once outside, he asked another person from the shop about his boss, but was told that it was unlikely that Ashraf would survive. “He was a great person, a great boss, a great brother,” Afzal said. “Very caring, very kind.”
Police are trying to piece together the motive
Officials released more details Thursday about the series of shootings that unfolded over several hours Monday afternoon and appealed to the public for information about the shooter. Petrie had a long criminal history that included convictions for assault, armed robbery and other violent offenses, police say. In 2007, he was placed on the national register as a person with a high likelihood of re-offending in relation to an incident two years earlier. Shakeel Ashraf, 38, was killed at his auto repair shop in Milton. Two employees were also shot, including Afzal and a 28-year-old international student who is not expected to survive his injuries. (Submitted by Junaid Butt) He was estranged from his family, police say, and briefly worked at Ashraf’s auto dealership. Petrie allegedly used a handgun in the shooting, which is now in the possession of the Ontario police Special Investigations Unit as part of the investigation into his fatal encounter with police in Hamilton. Investigators say they are still trying to piece together a clear motive for the shooting.
