A Toronto man is facing a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who was shot outside a residential building in Scarborough in late December.

Koshin Yusuf, 26, died of gunshot wounds in the area of McCowan Road and Trudelle Street, north of Eglinton Avenue East, police said in a news release.

Yusuf was Toronto's 76th homicide victim of 2019.

Police announced on Wednesday that officers carried out multiple search warrants in Toronto, and then arrested and charged a 21-year-old man with first-degree murder.

A handgun was also seized, police said in a news release.

"I hope that justice will be served for him," Yusuf's sister, Ilwaad, told CBC News.

The incident happened in the early morning hours of Dec. 29 at a Toronto Community Housing building. Police say Yusuf was approached by two people outside 400 McCowan Rd. who pulled guns and fired several shots before fleeing.

Police say a handgun was seized as part of the investigation. (Toronto Police Service)

Officers found him suffering from gunshot wounds. He died at the scene.

Ilwaad Yusuf told CBC News that her brother was friendly, always laughing, and beloved by everyone who knew him. Over 300 people showed up for his funeral service on New Year's Day, she said.

"He never really didn't have a smile on his face," she said.

"I think that's what was so hard for people, because that's what they kept remembering."

Yusuf was shot at the end of December in Scarborough. (Jeremy Cohn/CBC)

Yusuf loved computers, gaming and web design, she said. He studied software engineering at Wuhan University in Hubei, China, and also taught English while living there for three years. He returned to Toronto in the summer of 2016.

He had since gotten into the trucking industry, she said, and was driving six days a week while saving to start his own company one day.

Now, weeks after his death, people keep reaching out to tell her how heartbroken and shocked they are that Yusuf is gone.

"It just shows me the magnitude of how many people my brother has touched."

adam.carter@cbc.ca