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The couple said they were staying at the Shangri-La, a ritzy hotel and condominium tower just 60 metres up the street, said the witness.

Terry Nguyen, 29, of Toronto, is facing nine charges, including possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition, possession of a firearm obtained by commission of a crime, possession of a prohibited device and careless storage of both a firearm and ammunition.

Nguyen has had past brushes with police and at the time of the shooting was under court order not to possess firearms or ammunition.

“He went missing. He left and came back. He was definitely nowhere to be found at the time,” said the witness, who said a companion who was also in the restaurant at the time told him a man with blood-stained clothes was seen trying to get into the Shangri-La.

“Did he go to the Shangri-La to get something or to leave something? Was he chasing the gunmen? Maybe he went to the bathroom, I don’t know, but 100 per cent he wasn’t here.”

A spokeswoman for Shangri-La did not return phone calls Wednesday. Police declined to say where the guns were allegedly found or comment on any connection to the Shangri-La.

“This is a complicated investigation,” said Constable David Hopkinson, a Toronto police spokesman. “This is a case of two people who, by all accounts, were targeted. It is very serious.”

Toronto police’s guns and gangs unit is involved in the probe.

Investigators hope to have video images of the gunmen from restaurant surveillance cameras but have so far been stymied by technical problems and a corrupted hard drive. Images may be released Thursday, Hopkinson said.