Tow truck driver in hospital after being shot in Scarborough

A tow truck driver is in hospital with serious, possibly life-threatening injuries after he was shot in Scarborough.

A tow truck driver is in hospital following a shooting in Scarborough Tuesday night.

Toronto police said they were initially called to the area of Kennedy Road and Progress Avenue just after 7 p.m. for reports of a man shot inside a vehicle.

When they arrived, they found a male victim suffering from injuries. Toronto paramedics told CP24 that he was taken to a hospital with serious, possibly life-threatening injuries.

Police confirmed to CP24 that the shooting happened on Markham Road, north of Highway 401.

They said the victim, a tow truck driver, drove himself to a gas station near Kennedy Road and Progress Avenue, more than five kilometres away from where he was shot.

No suspect description has been released.

Earlier this month, Toronto police launched “Project Dodger,” a tow truck task force, in the wake of three shootings in Scarborough the week before.

Police said there had been a troubling increase in gun violence within the tow truck industry, saying that 70 per cent of all reported shootings between Jan. 1 and Jan. 13 were linked to a “small group of bad actors” towing in the city.

They attributed the violence, which also includes incidents of arson, to an ongoing turf war in the sector.