[kellyhound]

Toronto police homicide detectives are describing the fatal shooting of a 70-year-old man in Scarborough Wednesday night as "an incredibly cowardly act."

Detectives have released dramatic security camera footage of a man walking up to a parked van and firing shots that left Alva Dixon of Scarborough dead and another man injured.

"I believe it shows what can only be described as an incredibly cowardly act of a person sneaking up on a 70-year-old man and firing multiple shots at him," said Det. Jason Shankaran, of Toronto police's homicide unit.

"At this point, the only way to describe this is pathetic and cowardly."

Officers were called to the Morecambe Gate and Chester Le Boulevard area near Victoria Park Avenue and Finch Avenue East just after 11:30 p.m.

Police say a suspect approached the passenger side of a parked van, shot both the driver and front-seat passenger, and ran toward Victoria Park Avenue.

A second male suspect kept watch a short distance away, according to police. Police say both suspects ran off together.

Police say Dixon, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other man in the driver's seat was shot in the arm and is expected to survive, police said.

The second victim is in his 40s and a friend of Dixon, according to police. They say the two men were sitting in the van drinking beers and smoking cigarettes when the shooter approached them.

Investigators are not speaking about a motive at this time, but they believe it was not a random attack.

"I believe someone in that van was the intended target, I can't say right now whether Alva Dixon was the intended target," said Det. Shankaran.

Det. Shankaran did confirm that Dixon is known to police.

Dixon is survived by two daughters and a son.