Face of Nation : One man was killed and a woman is clinging to life after a targeted drive-by shooting at a Markham strip mall late Thursday.
York Regional Police say the couple pulled into the plaza at Conservation Ave. and Hwy. 7 — east of McCowan Rd. — around 11 p.m. and bullets started flying. “We responded for several calls from people in the area who heard sounds of gunshots,” Const. Laura Nicolle said Friday.
Yellow police evidence markers and a large pool of blood could be seen on the sidewalk just outside Hey Noodles restaurant at the west end of the plaza. And a bullet hole could be seen in a Madza dealership east of the strip mall.
Investigators are appealing to anyone who spotted a motorcycle fleeing the scene of the shooting at a high rate of speed — or who were in the area and have dash-cam video — to come forward. Perry Gargianis, who has only been in the plaza for the past six months at his a carpet store, said the restaurant is quite popular and the parking lot is always packed.
“This is very devastating, like it’s not easy to say. Like you are here one minute and gone (the next)” said Gargianis, referring to the dead man. Another Perry, who owns an electronics business in the strip mall but wouldn’t give his last name, said he was called by his sister Thursday night and then the police.
“I got a call from my sister that something happened in the plaza and got a call half an hour later,” said Perry, whose family owned a restaurant called Red Rose Gardens before it became Hey Noodles. “We used to own that restaurant for 45 year’s and nothing ever happened,” he said. There have been six murders this week in York Region.
