A man shot dead Tuesday near a busy intersection in midtown Toronto has been identified as the Toronto Raptors fan who was ejected from his courtside seat for heckling the referees during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals last month.

Toronto police have yet to release the name of the victim, but a family member confirmed his identity, according to Kim Bolan of the Vancouver Sun:

Sukh Deo, 34, was inside a white Range Rover when two men started firing at him just before 3 p.m. local time in an alley near the busy intersection of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue.

Toronto police Supt. Reuben Stroble told reporters at the scene that the fatal shooting “is a big surprise for this area, especially at this time of day.”

The luxury vehicle had at least 14 bullet holes visible on the driver’s side window.

Sukh’s uncle, Sohan Deo, confirmed it was his nephew who was killed. [...]

“The family is very upset,” Sohan Deo said. “It is terrible.”

More, from Vjosa Isai of the Toronto Star:

Sohan Deo said his nephew had moved to Toronto from Vancouver about five years ago and was running a trucking company here.

Just weeks before his death, Sukh Deo had an unlikely moment in the spotlight.

He was the man who was ejected for heckling at the Raptors’ May 23 playoff game in Toronto against the Cleveland Cavaliers, said Gurpreet Sahota, editor of the Punjabi weekly newspapers Akal Guardian and Charhdi Kala in Surrey, B.C.

“All our kids, they watched him on that day,” Sohan Deo told the Sun. “He was a really big fan of that team. He always goes to watch the games.”

The Sun report calls Sukh Deo "a former Metro Vancouver gangster" who was "well-known to police in the Lower Mainland [of British Columbia] and was a suspect in at least one continuing investigation here at the time of his murder." Police sources told CTV News he was a "big-time coke dealer" whose family "has a long history of criminal activity in British Columbia."

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No arrests have been made in the case. Police are asking anyone with information about Sukh Deo's murder to call the Toronto Police Service homicide squad at 1-416-808-2222 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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