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Toronto Police Probe Killing of 20-Year-Old Indian Doctoral Student Near UT Scarborough

India’s Toronto consulate says it is assisting the student’s family in coordination with local authorities.

Overview

  • The victim was identified as Shivank Avasthi, 20, found with a gunshot wound near Highland Creek Trail and Old Kingston Road on December 23 around 3:34 p.m. and pronounced dead at the scene.
  • Police say the suspect or suspects fled before officers arrived, and a homicide investigation is underway with an appeal for information from the public.
  • The University of Toronto Scarborough area was briefly locked down as officers searched the scene.
  • Toronto Police recorded the killing as the city’s 41st homicide of 2025.
  • In a separate case, police issued a Canada-wide warrant for Abdul Ghafoori in the killing of Indian-origin woman Himanshi Khurana, which investigators say appears to involve intimate-partner violence.