A cold-blooded would-be assassin posed as a courier before shooting a woman with a powerful crossbow hidden in a box he pretended to deliver to her door.
The woman, 44, was shot in the chest and suffered “massive trauma that was both life-threatening and life-altering”.
Police released video footage this week of the shooting in Mississauga, west of Toronto, Canada, in November. It was filmed with a camera mounted above the woman’s porch.
Police hope to identify the attacker with help from the public and by using facial recognition software.
Superintendent Heather Raymore said: “It is clear this attack was made in an attempt to end the victim’s life.”
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The video shows the moustachioed man dressed in pale clothes, a baseball cap and black gloves. Black hair, which may have been a wig, escaped from beneath his cap and he carried a large cardboard box that concealed the crossbow.
Police say it was powerful enough to kill a moose.
As he stood on the doorstep, waiting for the door to open, his right arm appeared to extend into the box.
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Detective Sergeant Jim Kettles, of Peel Regional Police, said: “What we believe is that his right arm was inserted through a hole in the box.”
When the woman opened the door he spoke to her briefly, then fired.
Kettles added: “The injuries she suffered were absolutely devastating. She will be in a recovery phase for the rest of her life.”
The woman managed to close the door after the arrow struck her and called police, who said she is now “in a place of safety”.
