Thanksgiving shooting at Pickering Casino leaves security guard dead

Investigator say they are searching for multiple men and women who fled the scene after a 34-year-old security guard was fatally gunned down at a Pickering casino early Thanksgiving Day.

At around 5:05 a.m., police received a call for “numerous shots” fired at the casino, Durham Regional Police Sgt. Joanne Bortoluss told CP24.

The victim — who has been identified as Michael Ferdinand — was rushed to hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

“I can advise that we are looking for multiple males and females that are believed to be involved in this incident that did flee the casino immediately following the shooting,” Bortoluss said.

She said it's not yet clear how long the suspect(s) were inside casino beforehand or why one of the members of the group fired multiple shots at the guard.

“It's obviously safe to say somebody was armed going into the casino and we are working very diligently with the casino, as well as witnesses, as well as members of our homicide unit to piece together what happened and to apprehend those responsible,” Bortoluss said.

She said the homicide unit is now combing through security footage from the casino and speaking with witnesses to try and gather more information about what happened and who was involved.

“We are working with the casino, reviewing surveillance video as well as speaking with witnesses to see what information we can obtain,” Bortoluss said. “Once we get that we can get it out. But we are still in the process of reviewing that and looking for witnesses to come forward.”

Images from the scene showed an ambulance and a heavy police presence outside the casino resort. A portion of the casino remains closed as police investigate the shooting, but guests are being allowed to leave if they need to.

Pickering Casino Resort said in a post on X that it is “temporarily closed” until further notice but made no mention of the shooting.

Investigators are asking people to stay clear of the area for the time being.