Toronto police will deliver an update on the homicide of 20‑year‑old Shivank Avasthi, the University of Toronto (U of T) student who was shot and killed near the Scarborough campus just before Christmas.
Investigators will brief the media at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Avasthi was found fatally shot on Dec. 23 along a paved trail in the Highland Creek Valley, just steps from the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) campus.
Officers were called to the area of Highland Creek Trail and Old Kingston Road around 3:30 p.m. for reports of “unknown trouble,” where they located Avasthi suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police have said the suspect fled before officers arrived, and no arrests have been made. Avasthi’s death marked Toronto’s 41st homicide of 2025.
Toronto police have previously appealed for witnesses, dashcam footage, or surveillance video from the Highland Creek area on the afternoon of Dec. 23.
According to the Varsity, U of T’s student newspaper, Avasthi was a third‑year life sciences student at UTSC, as well as a member of the campus cheerleading team and an executive with the powerlifting club. A memorial space is being set up on campus near the humanities wing steps, where students will be able to leave flowers and messages in the coming days.
