Timmins police respond to gunshots on Toke Street

Timmins police are investigating after gunshots were fired on Toke Street early Saturday. Lydia Chubak reports.

The Timmins Police Service is actively seeking a suspect following a report of gunshots in the city’s north end in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Officers responded to a call for service regarding a firearm discharge in the area of Toke Street and Leone Avenue. The specific circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation by police detectives.

Timmins police Staff Sgt. Camile Camirand provided CTV News with some details on the event.

“There was a disturbance, prior to the shot of being fired… specific to the disturbance, outside of that, there was no one hit or injured as a result of the firearm being discharged,” he said.

Search for suspect and call for video evidence

While no suspect has been located, investigators are pursuing strong leads. Camirand confirmed that police have a “very good description” of the individual involved.

Authorities are now appealing to residents in the vicinity for assistance, specifically requesting access to footage from private security cameras that may have captured evidence related to the incident.

“It could be video footage within even a four-block radius,” Camirand said. “What I mean by that is because it doesn’t necessarily capture the incident itself, but it might capture witnesses or suspect going to the scene and might capture witnesses or a suspect leaving the scene, gives police a timeline.”

Police reference CamSafe registry

To facilitate such requests, the Timmins Police Service promotes the use of CamSafe, a registry of security camera owners in Ontario to which only police services have access. Camirand noted that 169 people in Timmins have so far registered with the program.

He clarified that registration does not grant police direct access to video feeds.

“We need to ask for consent if we can view their surveillance camera because we do not have access to it and then we can take it from there,” said Camirand.

Motive not yet determined

At this early stage of the investigation, police have not determined a motive for the shooting. Camirand could not confirm if the incident is related to the drug subculture, noting that “more witnesses still need to be interviewed.”