Young man collapsed in front of his apartment building

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Bleeding heavily from an apparent gunshot wound to the chest, 22-year-old Youssef Saad desperately pleaded for help before collapsing outside his North York apartment building Wednesday night.

Garo, who didn't give his surname, was entering the building through a side door when he heard the gunshot.

"Then I saw the victim running upstairs from the garage, shouting 'Help me please! Call the police!'" Garo, 57, said. "We went together towards the main lobby to see the security guard, but he couldn't keep up. He dropped on his stomach. He was bleeding heavily and breathing heavily. Then he stopped breathing. Then I continued to the security guard and told him to come outside and call 911, and he did."

The shooting happened around 11:50 p.m. at a door to the underground garage at 1840 Victoria Park Ave., near Lawrence Avenue.

Jack Srabian, a second-floor resident, said he heard the security guard "talk loudly" with a 911 dispatcher. "He's asking for paramedics," said Srabian, adding the victim was lying "face down in front of the building."

Saad was taken by ambulance to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy will be performed Friday.

"The family is wonderful," said a friend who didn't give her name. "His mom and dad are very nice."

Saad lived in an 11th-floor apartment with his parents, two younger brothers and a younger sister.

Saad's father, Hussein, works at a barber shop in Scarborough.

The devout Muslim family has been living in the building for more than a decade. The family moved to Canada from Lebanon about 20 years ago.

"The family is in shock," said another family friend who identified himself only as Ali. "It's very tough on the family."

Saad is the city's 67th murder victim of 2008.

Police are looking for two suspects. The gunman is five-feet eight-inches to five-feet 11-inches tall with a medium build and wore a hooded top. There is no description of his accomplice.

"The suspect vehicle is described as a red van," police said in a news release.

Anyone with information is asked to call the homicide squad at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).