Toronto police say two teens are facing several charges in connection with tow truck-related shootings and violence, including a first-degree murder charge for the death of a 28-year-old man.
The boys, aged 15 and 16 from Oshawa and Stouffville, Ont., were arrested shortly after a man was found near Warden Avenue and Ellesmere Road on July 6 with gunshot wounds and died in hospital.
They have been charged with first-degree murder in relation to that fatal shooting. Investigators allege the youths were found to be in possession of a Glock handgun.
Police also allege the youths were responsible for 11 other shooting incidents that occurred between June 29 and July 14, the day they were arrested, with eight of these shootings taking place over the Canada Day long weekend. Police allege the pair used three stolen vehicles during that period.
The announcement comes as Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw said the force has taken “a dynamic, Service-wide approach to the troubling rise in gun crime” with 14 per cent of shootings and gun discharges “connected to an ongoing territory dispute involving a small segment of the tow truck industry.”
Staff Supt. Joe Matthews told reporters that since the two teens have been arrested, there has been a “significant decrease” in the number of shootings related to the tow truck industry.
He also alleges the teens were “being enticed to do these acts for financial gain.”
“From what we’ve learned, they are just used for hire, not necessarily per side,” Matthews said.
Matthew said since the arrests, there have been two tow truck-related shootings.
Toronto police said in total four people have been arrested, three youths and a man in his 30s. They have laid 177 charges in connection with the homicide and 13 tow truck-related shootings as part of Project Beacon, the tow truck task force.
The other two charged, a 17-year-old boy and a 33-year-old, face charges in relation to an incident on May 15 where two tow trucks were parked near Markham Road and Steeles Avenue East.
One suspect opened fire on the parked tow trucks, police said. Investigators allege the suspect responsible was “being paid to commit the shooting by a second person.”
No one was inside of the tow trucks at the time of the shooting and one of the trucks sustained damage, investigators said.
Since Jan. 1 of this year, Toronto police said there have been 43 tow truck-related shootings and discharges in Toronto.