They Were Shot Before the Cars Were Lit: Autopsies Turn the Scarborough and Etobicoke Vehicle Fires Into Two Homicides, and Toronto Police Still Will Not Say the Two Are Connected (September 25, 2026)
The fires were not what killed them. Toronto police said on Friday afternoon that autopsies have determined both people found dead inside burning vehicles in Scarborough and Etobicoke earlier this week sustained fatal gunshot wounds before the vehicles were set alight, and that both deaths are homicides. That is the single fact this site’s earlier briefings could not supply, and it reframes everything in them: two people were shot, and then two cars were burned at opposite ends of the city ninety minutes apart.
What is new
Two things, and they arrived together. First, the cause of death in both files is now established: gunshot wounds, sustained before the fires. Second, both files are now formally homicides rather than deaths under investigation. Everything this site previously recorded — the locations, the times, the absence of any Toronto Police Service news release — still stands.
What has not changed is as notable as what has. Police said at Friday’s news conference that it is still too early to tell whether the two fires are connected. Four days after the first call, with autopsy results in hand on both bodies, the force is still declining to link them.
The earlier file is here: There Was a Body in Each Car (Originally Reported September 22, 2026).
The two scenes, unchanged
The first fire was reported just before 11:25 p.m. on Monday, September 21, on Reesor Road between Steeles Avenue East and Old Finch Avenue in the agricultural northeast corner of Scarborough. A body was found inside the vehicle.
The second was reported roughly ninety minutes later, at about 12:50 a.m. on Tuesday, September 22, at James Gardens on Edenbridge Drive, near Royal York Road and Dundas Street West in Etobicoke. A body was found inside that vehicle as well. The two locations sit at effectively opposite corners of the city.
Detective Sergeant Henri Marsman of the Toronto Police Service Homicide and Missing Persons Unit is named in the reporting as leading the file. Neither victim has been publicly identified.
What the reporting publishes — and what it does not
- Published: that autopsies determined both victims sustained fatal gunshot wounds prior to the fires; that police are treating both deaths as homicides; that police say it is too early to tell whether the two fires are connected; the two call times and the two locations; that a news conference was held on the afternoon of Friday, September 25; that Detective Sergeant Henri Marsman of the Homicide and Missing Persons Unit is on the file.
- Not published: either victim’s name, age or sex; the number of shots in either case; any description of the firearm or firearms; whether the same weapon was used in both; where either shooting occurred relative to where the vehicle was found; the make, model or ownership of either vehicle; whether either was stolen; any accelerant finding; any case or occurrence number; any arrest, suspect or vehicle description.
- Named organizations: none. Police have named no gang, street group, outlaw motorcycle club or criminal organization in connection with either homicide, and have not connected either file to the towing-industry conflict or to any extortion investigation.
Timeline
- September 21, 2026 — just before 11:25 p.m. EasternA vehicle fire is reported on Reesor Road between Steeles Avenue East and Old Finch Avenue in Scarborough. A body is found inside.
- September 22, 2026 — approximately 12:50 a.m. EasternA second vehicle fire is reported at James Gardens on Edenbridge Drive in Etobicoke, roughly ninety minutes after the first. A body is found inside.
- September 22, 2026 — morningThe Toronto Police Service homicide unit is notified on both scenes. No cause of death is released.
- September 25, 2026 — 10:06 a.m. EasternCTV News Toronto and CP24 report that the homicide unit will hold a news conference at 12:30 p.m. to update both files.
- September 25, 2026 — Friday afternoonAt the news conference, police say autopsies have determined both victims sustained fatal gunshot wounds before the fires, and that both deaths are homicides. Police say it remains too early to tell whether the two fires are connected.
- September 25, 2026 — 12:43 p.m. EasternCTV News Toronto and CP24 update the story with the autopsy findings. No Toronto Police Service news release on either death has been published.
Carriage of both files; Det.-Sgt. Henri Marsman
Responded to both vehicle fires
Investigating the cause of both fires
Sources
- Codi Wilson, “Victims found inside burning vehicles suffered fatal gunshot wounds: Toronto police,” CTV News Toronto / CP24, September 25, 2026, published 10:06 a.m. Eastern, updated 12:43 p.m. — ctvnews.ca
- “Toronto police’s homicide unit to provide update on bodies found in burning vehicles,” CP24, September 25, 2026 — cp24.com
- Gangland Files, “There Was a Body in Each Car (Originally Reported September 22, 2026)” — ganglandfiles.com
Neither victim has been identified by police. No arrest has been made and no charge has been laid in connection with either homicide. No criminal organization, street gang or outlaw motorcycle club has been named by police in connection with either file. Nothing in this file has been tested in court.