CEO David Morton and Two Daughters Shot in Toronto Home Invasion

A Toronto real estate executive and his two adult daughters were shot inside their home early Thursday, and a fourth member of the family was struck with a hammer, Toronto police said. Four people went to the hospital. Two of them have what police are calling life-altering injuries.

Officers were called to a house on Hyde Park Circle, near Bayview and Lawrence avenues in the Bridle Path neighborhood, at around 3:44 a.m. on Oct. 29, Toronto police Insp. Kristy Smith told reporters. Three masked men had forced their way in through the rear door. All three carried handguns. One also had a hammer.

The men left in an SUV before first responders arrived. Police have released no descriptions of them. No one has been arrested.

Three masked men, a rear door, and a struggle

Four people were inside the house: a husband, his wife and their two adult daughters. The intruders confronted them and demanded valuables, according to police.

"A struggle ensued during this altercation in which the suspects fired their guns multiple times, and one victim was struck with a hammer," Smith said.

Smith laid out the injuries this way: "Three members of the family: the father and his two daughters, sustained gunshot wounds. Two victims remain in hospital with life-altering injuries, while the other two sustained non-life-threatening injuries." Police initially described two of the injuries as life-threatening before revising that.

Smith, who works with the Toronto Police Service's Hold Up Squad, said it was unclear whether the hammer was also used to force the back door. Investigators do not believe a vehicle was taken from the property, and it is still unclear whether the men left with anything at all. Police said the family is not in the home, which makes that harder to pin down.

"There was a violent interaction. There was a demand made for valuables from within the home," Smith said. Whether the suspects escaped with anything, she added, is uncertain at this point.

The family runs a Toronto real estate and hospitality company

The Toronto Sun identified the father as David Morton, 75, chief executive of the MAC Group, a family-owned Toronto company with divisions in real estate, hospitality and corporate housing. His wife, Doriana Zohil-Morton, is the company's president.

Their two adult daughters are Maggie and Cristina Zohil-Morton. Cristina is listed as the founder of Zohil-Morton Law, which handles Canadian immigration work. Maggie is listed as a MAC Group employee who works across several departments. Morton oversees all divisions of the company and has 30 years of experience in hospitality and real estate, according to the company website.

Police have not identified the victims or said which of them suffered which injuries.

Where the shots landed, according to sources

Sources told the Toronto Sun that Morton and one daughter were shot in the leg, and that the other daughter was shot under her arm. The same reporting says the three of them tried to fight off the intruders before they were shot, and that Doriana Zohil-Morton was the family member attacked by the suspect with the hammer.

One claim circulating from an insider is that all four family members were hit with the hammer. That detail has not been confirmed. Police have only described one victim being struck.

Investigators are still working on the basic questions: whether the men had been watching the neighborhood beforehand, whether this particular house was picked for a reason, and what set off the shooting once the struggle started.

A man walked into a hospital with a gunshot wound 30 minutes later

Police are looking into a separate incident that happened right after the break-in. A person arrived at St. Joseph's hospital with a gunshot wound roughly 30 minutes after the home invasion.

Smith said no connection has been established between that person and the shooting on Hyde Park Circle. It is one of several threads detectives are pulling on.

Police do not think the house was singled out

Smith was blunt about what investigators have so far on motive, which is not much. "We have no information at this point to suspect that this particular home was targeted by the suspects," she said. "I'm not quite sure what their motives are at this time and whether or not they were in the area looking at other houses prior."

Her working theory points at the neighborhood rather than the family, an "affluent area where people would have things that are sought after." She also noted that car thieves often break into houses to get at high-end vehicles, though police do not believe a car was taken here.

The Bridle Path is one of the wealthiest pockets of Canada, full of gated driveways, long private grounds and the kind of houses that get photographed from the street. The Mortons' home sits behind a gate.

Tennis court, in-ground pool, private gardens

The house has a tennis court, an in-ground pool and private gardens, according to an online listing cited by the New York Post.

That is the part neighbors keep circling back to. These are houses with alarm systems, cameras and gates, and three men still got in through a back door before 4 a.m.

A neighbor brings up the shooting outside Drake's house

Cecil Hawkins, who lives in the area, called the attack "a terrible shock and tragedy" and said he was surprised given how much security the houses around him have.

Hawkins also brought up the May 2024 shooting outside Drake's Toronto mansion nearby, which left a security guard seriously injured. "The attack on Drake's house was awful, but he's a celebrity and you don't think it's ever going to happen to you as a more normal person," Hawkins said.

He kept going. "Shooting people in the house seems mind-boggling that they would actually do that. It's a defenceless homeowner. Why would they react that way?"

Police have not suggested any link between Thursday's home invasion and Drake or the earlier shooting at his property.

The mayor and the local councillor weigh in

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow posted a statement on social media Thursday saying she was "deeply troubled by the violent home invasion early this morning in the Bridle Path neighbourhood," and that her thoughts were with the family. "I am praying for their full recovery," she wrote.

Chow said the attack had shaken the neighborhood and residents across the city. "This violence is not acceptable in our city. People must be safe in their own homes," she wrote, adding that police have her full support and that residents should expect more officers in the area.

Local Coun. Rachel Chernos Lin called it a "brazen act of violence" in her own statement and said she has been in contact with Chow, the chair of the Toronto Police Services Board and senior police officials. She said she would keep working with police to make sure neighborhoods have the resources to keep residents safe.

Investigators are asking for doorbell and dashcam video

Officers from the Hold Up Squad and 33 Division are running the investigation, and police said residents can expect an increased presence in the Bridle Path over the coming days.

Police are asking anyone in the area to check doorbell cameras, home surveillance systems and dashcam footage for anything recorded around the time of the break-in. Chow urged the same in her statement. Anyone with information is asked to contact Toronto police at 416-808-7350.

Smith closed her news conference with a message aimed at the rest of the neighborhood. "People should be able to feel safe in their homes. I want to assure residents that the Toronto Police Service will do everything that we can to identify, locate, and bring these suspects to criminal justice."

She also described the case as very active and ongoing, and said police recognize how frightening an incident like this is for the victims and for the whole community. Two members of the Morton family remain in the hospital. The three men who broke in are still at large.