Toronto police are searching for a man wanted for first degree murder in what they say was the targeted shooting of a 23-year-old man in Scarborough on Thursday, identified as Kevin Nicholas Gidden.

At a news conference Sunday, Det. Shawn Mahoney urged Simeon Harty, 22, to turn himself into police in connection with what is Toronto's 57th homicide of the year.

Mahoney said police believe Gidden, who was a passenger in a vehicle, "crossed paths" with Harty at a gas station on Lawrence Avenue East. Police believe Harty followed the 23-year-old with his car and a short time later, Gidden would be shot in the head and body while heading eastbound on Lawrence Avenue East between Orton Park and Overture Roads.

Gidden was driven to Toronto Police Service's 43 Division, within a kilometre of the crime scene, shortly after 12:45 a.m. on Thursday, where the car's driver sought help. Police performed first aid before Toronto paramedics arrived and rushed Gidden to a trauma centre in critical condition. He was pronounced dead in hospital on Saturday.

"We believe the shooting was targeted. Whether the deceased was the only target, that is still part of the investigation," Mahoney told reporters Sunday, adding that anyone caught helping Harty to evade arrest will also be charged.

Car that suspect was in found in Hamilton, police say

Early Sunday, police seized a vehicle in Hamilton, Ont. that they say Harty was in the morning of the shooting. No weapon has yet been recovered.

Toronto police released this image of Kevin Nicholas Gidden, 23, who died on Saturday after he was shot multiple times on Thursday in a car. (Toronto Police Service)

Mahoney said Harty is known to police and was currently on release on a robbery charge.

In December 2014, Harty was arrested in connection with a human trafficking investigation involving a 21-year-old woman that police say was taken to various Toronto hotels and forced into the sex trade. The then 21-year-old Harty faced 23 charges including sexual assault, possession of a firearm and forcible confinement.

Mahoney said Gidden was not known to police and that the driver of the vehicle he was in, is co-operating with their investigation.

It's unknown if the suspect had any prior contact with Gidden other than at the gas station, he said.

Police will seek a warrant for Harty's arrest on a first degree murder charge, Mahoney said.

An autopsy is being performed on Gidden and Mahoney said he believes the cause of death will be a gunshot wound.

'I know my son to be a good boy'

In an interview from Kingston, Jamaica, Gidden's mother, Marjorie Hines, told CBC News on Saturday that her son was originally from Jamaica, came to Canada in 2010 and returned to Jamaica briefly before going to live in Canada again.

"I know my son to be a good boy," she said, adding he was not in any trouble with the law.

Hines said Gidden, her first child, was soon going to turn 24. She said he was studying computers, math and English. She said he has a father and step-mother in Toronto.

Hines said in the minutes leading up to the shooting Gidden had gone to a gas station with a friend. She said the friend got out of the car to get a drink and that the friend saw two men looking at Gidden through the car window.

Gidden and his friend drove off, and the shooting began when they stopped at the light and a car pulled up beside their car, Hines said.

Other than that Hines said, "I'm not hearing anything from nobody. I don't know what to do or where to turn to for answers."

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 416-808-7400 or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.