SHOOTING LINKED TO DRUGS, POLICE SAY

Three Arrested On Trafficking Charges After Cocaine Found In Waterfront Hotel

The gun violence that erupted in a luxury downtown Toronto hotel
Monday night stemmed from a cocaine rip-off, police believe.

Three out-of-province visitors, including a guest discovered in an
elevator suffering from three bullet wounds, were arrested on
cocaine-trafficking charges yesterday after four kilograms of the
drug were found in a room at the Westin Harbour Castle.

No one has been charged in the shooting.

The gunfire at the 1,000-room waterfront hotel brought swarms of
police and prompted an emergency alert warning people to stay in their rooms.

Investigators said that some time after 9 p.m., 36-year-old Sean Erez
of Quebec was shot once in the stomach and twice in the legs in an
attack in the hallway of the hotel's 28th floor. Moments later, the
bleeding victim was discovered, apparently trying to leave the hotel,
when the elevator stopped on the 16th floor.

Mr. Erez was taken to St. Michael's Hospital with non-life-threatening wounds.

The cocaine, worth several hundred thousand dollars if cut and
retailed in small amounts, was found in a room on the 28th floor of
the hotel's south tower, and police suggested the shooting stemmed
from a drug transaction that turned violent.

Mr. Erez, fellow Quebecker Nataly Abitan, 27, and Evgene Starichuk of
British Columbia, 22, are charged with possessing cocaine for the
purpose of trafficking.

"It's possible other people are involved. I'm sure there are other
suspects," police spokeswoman Constable Isabelle Cotton said.

"There's two parts to this. There's the drug issues and there's the
shooting; and the shooting part hasn't changed," Detective Sergeant
Richard Murdoch said.

No arrests were made at the hotel and the shooter or shooters who
wounded Mr. Erez were thought to have fled by a stairwell before
emergency-task-force police arrived.

Suspicion of an outlaw-biker connection quickly arose, but a source
within the OPP-led biker enforcement unit said yesterday afternoon he
was unaware of one.

At the hotel yesterday the atmosphere was calm as guests strolled in
and out of the lobby, shopping bags in hand. A police forensic van
was the only remaining sign of what had happened hours earlier.

Callum Scott and his family were at the hotel Monday night when
police toting shields and assault rifles swept in around 9:40.

As police combed the premises in search of the suspects, several PA
announcements advised guests to stay where they were because of an
emergency situation. The hotel would not elaborate on what the
situation entailed, which angered some.

"The disturbing thing is that there still hasn't been a statement or
announcement made to guests about what happened," said Mr. Scott, who
is visiting from Scotland with his wife, Marita, and 14-year-old
daughter, Mhairi.

"We'd like to have some sort of assurance that everything is okay and
there's nothing to worry about. But we didn't even get that."

Hotel workers ushered guests from the south tower to the north tower
immediately after the bloody attack. Others were made to wait nearly
two hours in the hotel lobby, where a pianist performed.

Hotel officials said the situation was handled efficiently but would
not comment on why a statement was never issued to guests.

"I think the hotel did a great job dealing with the guests in the
situation they were in," said Dan Young, public relations manager for
Starwood Hotels.

Mr. Young couldn't say whether the hotel would take measures to
prevent such an incident in the future, but said no stays were cut
short or reservations cancelled.

Lisa Carlin from Philadelphia said she was surprised to learn of the incident.

"Everyone says Canada is so much safer than the States," she said.
"But this is the only time I've been in a hotel when there was a
shooting, and it was in Canada."