Canadian man, 73, raged about ‘demons’ before Toronto condo building shooting

‘Why can’t you build the condominiums buildings by the Ontario building code so I did not have to do this,’ suspect says ahead of shooting

The suspect in the Toronto condo shooting in which five people died reportedly shared several videos of himself describing other residents in the building as “indecent, b*****d criminals” who were working against him.

The suspect has been identified by the Toronto Star as well as other outlets in Canada as Francesco Villi, 73.

He’s been reported to have been involved in several ongoing legal fights against six members of the condo board over the course of several years, according to The Daily Beast.

Police have called the shooting “horrendous”. The authorities have said that Mr Villi was shot and killed by police but haven’t shared further details such as the names of the victims.

Mr Villi posted several videos to his Facebook page on the day of the attack.

“They’ve been tormenting and torturing me for 10 years… Everybody is working to destroy me, to hide the criminality of” the building’s corporation, he said in one of the videos.

“No one seems to care. I will speak to my last breath against these criminals,” he added. “You will never have my soul. Liars, demons. If you would have given me some comfort in my home, that’s all I want. Why has it been denied for seven years? You bastards, all of you. You indecent b*****d criminals.”

The Ontario Special Investigations Unit said in a statement on Monday that the gunman was killed by responding police who shot him in a hallway after he had used a semiautomatic handgun in an attack that resulted in “multiple deceased located on several floors”.

In December 2020, Mr Villi sued the condo board directors, seeking more than $8m in damages, court documents has revealed, according to the Toronto Sun.

The gunman who shot dead five people at a condo building outside of Toronto had spent years harassing residents and threatening the condo board, according to reports (Facebook)

Mr Villi argued that “electromagnetic waves” were damaging his health, saying that it “caused him harm, pain, suffering, stress, damage to physical and mental health and his financial well being”.

Justice Joseph Di Luca called the suit “frivolous” and “lacking material facts”.

“Mr Villi believes that the board members of the Corporation have actively engaged in efforts to intentionally harm him, likely at the behest of the powerful developer who built the condominium,” the justice wrote, according to the Toronto Sun.

In another video posted by Mr Villi, he claims the snot hanging from his nose was caused by the electromagnetic waves.

“Energy from hydroelectricity is killing me,” he said. “It touches me and burns my flesh.”

In a separate video posted on Facebook, Mr Villi said that he was living in a “dungeon,” adding that he was “ready to die”.

He said God would “destroy the world” only to build it back up.

“They want me dead,” he added. “You can take this body but never this soul, this spirit … God will see me through.”

On 20 November, he posted a selfie with the words “Francesco Villi Murder”.

On Sunday, he posted three videos, one only hours before the shooting. For 16 minutes, he criticised his neighbours and accused the board of trying to keep him quiet and said Canada was a communist nation.

“You don’t want me to post on social media—why?” Mr Villi yelled in the footage. “Does the truth bother you so much?”

“Why can’t you build the condominiums buildings by the Ontario building code so I did not have to do this,” Mr Villi said, possibly foreshadowing the attack. “... I’ve got nothing more to say.”