Montreal Man Wanted After Security Guard Shot in Toronto Jewelry Store Robbery

A Montreal man has been named as a suspect in the shooting of a security guard during a jewelry store robbery at a Toronto-area mall this week, police say.

City police are on the lookout for 53-year-old Kyle Douglas Prouse in connection with the April 21 shooting at Fairview Mall in North York, a district of Toronto, shortly after 10 a.m.  

Prouse is also a suspect in an August 2023 break-and-enter investigation in Durham Region and is known to have ties to both Toronto and Vancouver, the Toronto Police Service said in a press release.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting at the mall at 10:05 a.m., where they found the victim outside the Michael Hill jewelry store suffering from a gunshot wound. Police said the security guard was shot after he attempted to apprehend a man who “stole a quantity of merchandise” from the store. 

Toronto Police Insp. Kristy Smith told reporters the security guard was “transported to the hospital in life-threatening condition.”

“Our thoughts are with the victim who is a member of the mall security team and works closely with our officers on a regular basis,” Smith said later in the day while at the scene of the shooting. 

The victim has since been listed in stable condition, police said.

The suspect is described by police as a white male, wearing a grey hooded sweater, grey pants, a blue baseball cap, a white medical mask, and black shoes. There were flecks of white paint on his clothing, police said.

He was last seen heading south on Don Mills Road in a white, construction-style van before officers arrived at the scene. The van was recovered by police in the Shaughnessy-George Henry Boulevard area of North York, roughly a kilometre away from Fairview Mall. 

The suspect then fled in a black Honda Accord, police said. Witnesses or anyone with video footage of the area at the time of the robbery are being asked to contact investigators or Crime Stoppers.

Police did not say how much was stolen from the store during the heist, but noted that the location has been the scene of past thefts.

The last theft at the location was a smash-and-grab robbery last October when police said four suspects were believed to be involved.

“We understand how concerning this is,” Smith said of the shooting and robbery this week. “An incident like this has effects for the community.”

Smith said there will be a heightened police presence in the area in the coming days as members of the Toronto police holdup unit investigate the shooting.