Toronto police have identified the victim in the city's first homicide of 2020 as 21-year-old Ahmed Yakot.

Yakot was one of two people shot downtown on New Year's Day on Oak Street in Regent Park.

Police were called to the scene at approximately 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. They arrived to find both men suffering gunshot wounds — one in life-threatening condition, the other with serious but not critical injuries.

Yakot died overnight in hospital.

The victims were inside a car when the shooting happened. The vehicle was still parked at the scene early Thursday, riddled with bullet holes and the drivers-side window shattered.

Police are now searching for two men who they say approached the suspects in a dark-coloured sedan, before opening fire and fleeing.

Multiple gunshots heard

Konstantin Polizoz said he heard multiple gunshots before running out of a convenience store toward the vehicle, where he saw one man shot in the stomach, the other in the head.

"I couldn't help them," he said.

Two people were inside a car when they were shot. (Yanjun Li/CBC)

Darryl Spencer, who works with the Christian Resource Centre in Regent Park, says gun violence isn't endemic to the area, but rather a problem that needs to be addressed citywide.

He sees investing in young people as key to combating the problem.

"It's jarring to people when something like this happens in the community ... It affects people, it makes them feel unsafe in their homes and their communities and people worry. But again it's a systemic issue."

"I think investing in children and youth from a really young age all the way through from the age of four into their early 20s, give them opportunities to join programs, volunteer, job opportunities — that's really the way to do it.

"It's not a quick fix — it's not as simple as banning illegal handguns when illegal handguns are being used. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of work."

Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at 416-808-7400 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 416-222-8477.

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