Resident charged after shooting during attempted auto theft at Toronto home

A resident has been charged after gunfire broke out during an attempted auto theft at a Toronto home early Wednesday morning.

Toronto police said officers were called to Kingston and McCowan roads around 2:41 a.m. for reports of unknown suspects attempting to steal a vehicle from the driveway of a home.

A resident of the home appeared and fired a gun, police said. No injuries were reported but a nearby home was damaged by the gunfire.

The suspects fled the scene before police arrived.

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The resident of the home, 37-year-old Francis Betinvieh, has been charged with recklessly discharging a firearm.

Global News was in court when he appeared virtually Wednesday afternoon. He has been released on $2,000 bail, which the Crown consented to. Betinvieh has been ordered not to possess any weapons, to surrender his firearm certificate and authorizations, and to have no contact with the residents of the home that was struck by

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The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

— with files from Global News’ Catherine McDonald and Sean Previl, and The Canadian Press