The owner of a tattoo shop in Liberty Village says he doesn't know why three suspects threw Molotov cocktails into his business last week. "The main thing right now is to figure out who did this and what's the reason for it. Because clearly, it was a targeted attack," Esteban Rodriguez, one of the owners of Heartless Ink, told CP24 on Friday morning.
"When something is targeted like that, well, there must be a reason behind it. And we are in the dark with it." The incident happened early on the morning of Aug.
14. Toronto police said they were initially called to the East Liberty Street and Hanna Avenue area for a fire. Officers later learned that four suspects allegedly deliberately started the fire.
Police said in a news release on Thursday that three suspects approached the shop, and one of them smashed the front window with an unknown object. A surveillance video shared by police captured the suspects lighting up Molotov cocktails and throwing them into the store, causing a fire. Another person, seen in the video riding his bike, is believed to be the fourth suspect, who police say was acting as a lookout.
All later fled the area. Toronto Fire crews shortly responded and knocked down the fire. Police said no injuries were reported.
According to Rodriguez, he closed the shop around midnight. He recalled that around 3:30 a.m.
, he got a notification from the security system about broken glass. On his way to the shop, Rodriguez was informed by the property manager about a fir.