Jefflin Beals is seen in a Facebook profile picture uploaded in July. Toronto Police have used this image in their appeal for witnesses. Facebook

The young man killed during the Nuit Blanche festivities had been the target of an attempted drive-by shooting in Dartmouth, N.S., two years ago, CBC News has learned.

Police identified the 25-year-old man as Jefflin Beals of Dartmouth on Monday.

The young man was found unconscious between two houses on Crawford street, with gunshot wounds to his chest, early Sunday. He was rushed to St. Michael's Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

"The Toronto police need your help," a police videographer said in a YouTube appeal for witnesses.

"This is the exact location where the murder occurred," he continued, focusing the camera on the pavement between two red houses, a space surrounded by leafy bushes on the quiet residential street.

CBC News has confirmed that Beals was known to police in his home province, and was visiting Toronto when he was killed. It was not the first time he had been targeted.

Beals was the intended victim of a failed drive-by shooting in Dartmouth two years ago, during which at least 10 shots were fired.

It is not clear if the previous attack is in any way connected to Sunday's fatal shooting.

Beals, a former all-star basketball player at Dartmouth High School, had a checkered past. He had been convicted four times for drug-related charges, twice for breaching release conditions and once for causing a disturbance by fighting.

The young man was shot just outside Trinity-Bellwoods Park, where scores of people were enjoying Nuit Blanche art installations.

Police also cordoned off an empty, bullet-riddled car in the area. They would not confirm whether the car belonged to the shooter or the victim.

"We are appealing to the public to please come forward with any information that might assist us in identifying why Mr. Beals was in that area at the time of his death, and why he was in Toronto," said Det. Sgt. Wayne Banks, the lead investigator in the case.

Banks urged people in both Toronto and Nova Scotia to come forward with any information.