Police say two 14-year-olds have been charged with second-degree murder in relation to the killing of 16-year-old Ahmad Maher Al Marrach outside the Halifax Shopping Centre on Monday.
In a release on Thursday afternoon, police say officers arrested the accused in Sackville, and both have now been charged.
“Today, two 14-year-old youths have been charged with second degree murder and are scheduled to appear in Halifax Youth Justice Court tomorrow,” the release said.
On Monday evening, officers responded to a report of an injured person in the Halifax Shopping Centre parking lot at about 5:05 p.m. The injured male youth, who was later identified as Al Marrach, was taken to hospital where he later died.
Shortly after, officers had arrested what they referred to as two suspects – aged 16 – on a Halifax Transit bus in the area of North Street in Halifax — but they were released without charges on the following day.
In an interview with Global News on Thursday afternoon, Halifax Regional Police spokesperson Const. John Macleod said an investigation into the homicide is still ongoing.
“The evidence that they (investigators) had wasn’t sufficient enough to support charges at that particular time,” he said regarding the first alleged suspects that were released following an arrest on Monday.
When asked if more charges could be made as more details emerge, Macleod said investigators “haven’t ruled that possibility out.”
Macleod said he understands Al Marrach’s death has raised safety concerns for many Halifax residents.
“Our investigators don’t believe this to be a random incident. We have arrested the individuals, and they will be going before the courts,” he said, adding that investigators don’t believe there is a risk to the wider community as a result of the homicide.
“We wouldn’t expect continuing violence to occur in relation to this specific incident.”
On Wednesday, hundreds gathered at a Halifax-area mosque to mourn Al Marrach. Members of the city’s Muslim community were united in grief, showing their support for the victim’s family during a service at the Kearney Lake Mosque Wednesday afternoon.
“Obviously, it’s a tragic incident,” said imam Hamzah Mangera following the service. “The youth are feeling it, because many of the youth were friends of the deceased.”
Al Marrach and his family were Syrian refugees who were making a life for themselves in Canada. While the teen had struggled to settle in, he “was on a path of change” at the time of his death, Mangera said.
A GoFundMe set up for Al Marrach’s family had raised more than $35,000 as of Wednesday.
“Ahmad’s family came to us as Syrian newcomers fleeing the horrific war,” says a message on the GoFundMe site. “A family of seven children managed to come to Canada for a ‘better life.’”
Ahmad was a student at Citadel High School in Halifax.
— with files from Global News’ Alex Cooke