TORONTO – Toronto Police have linked the Galloway Boys, an infamous street gang in Toronto, to several murders including the Danzig Street mass shooting in July – the worst case of gun violence in Toronto history.
Police have linked the Toronto street gang – the Galloway Boys, to the shooting on Danzig Street and the December 2011 murder of D’Mitre Barnaby in Scarborough.
At approximately 11a.m. on December 30, 2011, Barnaby was with a friend in the rear parking lot of 3895 Lawrence ave. east. Two male suspects circled the car Barnaby was in and according to police, made it clear he should not be in the parking lot.
After leaving, police believe the two suspects followed Barnaby, and without warning shot him several times before fleeing on foot.
Barnaby was pronounced dead on scene and police believe his killers were “vying for leadership” within the Galloway Boys.
Security camera footage of prior to the December 30, Scarborough shooting.
Several other shootings may have also been the result of gang members vying for control of their gang.
Police believe the “Domino’s shooting” at Lawrence Avenue East and Susan Street in September, 2011, the shooting on Northfield Drive on November 4, 2011, a drive-by shooting on Kingston Road on December 28, 2011, two shootings on Lawrence Avenue East in January and August 2012, and a murder at the Lawrence Avenue East LRT station in August, 2012.
“The investigators believe that the conflict between the Galloway Boys and other neighbourhoods in the Scarborough area , in particular the Orton Park, is being fuelled by the Galloway Boys’ propensity for violence, their ability to obtain guns and their willingness to seek revenge” Toronto police Det-Sgt. Brett Nicol said.
During a major police sweep of street gangs in 2004, members of the Galloway Boys were arrested. According to police, many of those charged and later released from prison, may have been involved with suspects in the recent string of shootings, acting as “…mentors to the young members that we are now seeking today.”
Police believe these shootings also sparked the unprecedented violence seen during the Danzig Street shooting.
An annual community barbeque on July 16 ended as one of the most prolific, and violent examples of gun violence in the history of Toronto, with two young people killed, and 23 others injured.
According to police, several members of the Galloway Boys attended the barbeque. One of them, Nahom “Gifted” Tsegazab, a member of the gang and the first person arrested in relation to the murder was bragging on twitter that he was hosting the “blocko,” and had Hennessy cognac for all his guests.
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“This obviously garnered a lot of attention from other people and people started attending from the eastern end of Toronto,” Toronto police Detective Sgt. Peter Trimble said.
Violence erupted at the peaceful barbeque after a squabble between members of the Galloway Boys and their traditional rivals from the Malvern area of Toronto.
“For years, gang members from Galloway and Malvern have been at odds. The two groups are enemies. Neither is supposed to venture into the other’s territory,” police said in a press release issued on Tuesday.
The young men from Malvern were asked to leave after the confrontation, but returned shortly with more people.
Another confrontation occurred, resulting in a shootout in the middle of the barbeque.
Five firearms have been found, and there were as many as six shooters, police said.
The large shootout killed Shyanne Charles, and Joshua Yasay and left 23 other people injured.
“It’s cowardice that they would do this,” Trimble said.
To date only two people have been arrested in connection to the Danzig shooting, Tsegazab, and Shaquan “Bam Bam” Mesquito, from the Malvern area.
Police say they are receiving no cooperation from those arrested.
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