A 20-year-old woman is dead and a man is badly injured after a double shooting inside a Markham home that police say was targeted and shot at multiple times in the past year.

The shooting happened around 6:30 a.m. Friday at a residence on Solace Road near Highway 48 and Castlemore Avenue, York Regional Police say.

Officers who responded to the shooting found the two adults with gunshot wounds, according to Const. Kevin Nebrija.

The female victim has been identified as 20-year-old Nilakshi Raguthas. Police say she was taken to a trauma centre and pronounced dead a short time after.

The other victim, a 26-year-old man, was taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, Nebrija said.

A German Shepherd dog was also fatally shot during the attack, Nebrija said.  

Police say two suspects were seen speeding away from the home in a newer-model, black, four-door Acura TLX sedan.

“This is being investigated as a targeted shooting. And we can confirm that this house has been targeted multiple times in the past,” Nebrija told reporters at the scene. 

Police were previously sent to the home five times since 2018, including three calls last year, he added. Several of those incidents involved suspects shooting at the residence from a distance, Nebrija said.

The house was shot at once in February 2024 and twice the next month. Shortly after that, police held a town hall meeting with residents, Nebrija said.

No arrests have been made in those previous cases.

The homicide unit has taken over the investigation but it is too early to speculate on a possible motive for the slaying, he added.

Police say the case marks York Region’s third homicide of the year. 

They are appealing for anyone with information or security camera video that could assist investigators to contact York police or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers.

Source: CBC News
--Agencies