A woman in her 30s is dead after being struck by a driver in a vehicle in Mississauga early Sunday morning, said Peel police.
Emergency crews responded around 6:10 a.m. near Eglinton Avenue and Erin Mills Parkway after receiving “multiple” calls for a pedestrian, who had been hit by a vehicle that had fled the scene, said Peel police Sgt. Tyler Bell-Morena.
Peel paramedics said the woman was taken to a local hospital with critical, life threatening injuries. But the woman was later pronounced dead in hospital, said Bell-Morena.
He said it appears the victim was in the area “for the hospital” nearby. He did not share any other details on why the woman was there nor clarify if she was going to or leaving the area.
Police initially said on social media that the driver fled the scene, travelling eastbound on Eglinton Avenue from Erin Mills, in a light coloured sedan.
But that vehicle ended up being someone who had called in the crash, not involved themselves, said Bell-Morena. He said investigators are not yet sure what colour the vehicle involved was, but are processing evidence and video to determine the make and model of the car.
“There’s absolutely no reason that anyone who hit a pedestrian, especially at the speed in which we believe this happened, to not know they have struck somebody,” he said.
(Spencer Gallichan-Lowe/CBC)
“We are under the impression that there’s going to be substantial front end damage to the vehicle, the hood and the windshield as well.”
Bell-Morena said the intersection was busy with several cars passing through, but that there were no visibility issues, heavy traffic nor construction at the time of the collision.
He appealed to automotive businesses and junk yards in the area to look for damaged cars coming in and to call police if they’re suspicious.
He said that it would be “only a matter of time” before investigators locate the driver due to “substantial” video and dash cam footage they’ve received.
To the driver, Bell-Morena had a direct message to share: “You know that you hit somebody, lawyer up and turn yourself into police.”
The intersection was closed for a period of time but has since reopened, police said.