Toronto bowling alley shooting victim connected to 2014 homicide investigation

The 29-year-old man investigators say they believe was the target of Saturday night’s shooting outside a North York bowling alley has a connection to a troubling homicide investigation from 2014.

Toronto police confirm to Global News that Thanh Tien Ngo was the son of Ngoc Ngo, 64. Ngoc was the victim of a brazen shooting on March 25, 2014. He was shot repeatedly when he opened the door of his Symington Avenue home, near Dupont Street and Lansdowne Avenue. Ngoc died at the scene. His wife was inside along with another relative police did not name at the time.

Police said in 2014 witnesses reported seeing several men, likely in their 20s, bolting from the scene in a dark-coloured minivan. Investigators had two working theories.

READ MORE: Police say landscaper, 64, was targeted in ‘execution-style’ shooting

“Some perceived injustice by a 64-year-old gardener or mistaken identity,” Det. Sgt. Pauline Gray told reporters during a 2014 news conference.

Ngoc was described at the time as a self-employed gardener, and married with children and grandchildren. His death marked the 16th homicide of that year.

“This is not a random killing. It is targeted,” Gray said.

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“I’m having difficulty coming to a place in my investigation where a 64-year-old man living in his home, in his slippers, is a threat.”

Fast-forward nearly four years to the day and Thanh’s death is now under investigation.

READ MORE: Man killed in shooting at Toronto bowling alley ‘targeted,’ woman killed was bystander, police say

Court documents obtained by Global News suggest he was involved with organized crime. It is believed by official he was associated with Chin Pac. According to those documents, the gang has “existed in Toronto since the early 2000s.”

Toronto police said they are confident there is no relationship between Thanh Ngo and Ruma Amar. She was, by all accounts, an innocent bystander.

It was around 9:30 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day when Amar set foot inside Playtime Bowl and Entertainment. For half an hour, she hung out at the arcade with her husband and sister.

“We were thinking, ‘Should we go there? Or should we go bowling?’ recalled Amar’s husband, Amandeep Luthra.

“She was like, ‘Let’s just go ahead and eat because then the restaurant won’t close … and that was the moment.”

READ MORE: Family remembers woman fatally shot at Toronto bowling alley as ‘a beautiful soul’

That was the moment a barrage of gunfire was unleashed outside the entertainment complex south of Orfus Road, near Dufferin Street and Lawrence Avenue West.

Luthra’s 29-year-old wife was badly injured. She had a gaping wound on the back of her head. He said he held her close and uttered a refrain to keep breathing. She was rushed to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre where she later succumbed to her injuries.

Thanh Ngo’s death marked the city’s 13th homicide of the year. Amar represented the 14th.

WATCH: Husband of Ruma Amar says she ‘was fighting until the end’ (March 19)

1:02 Husband of Ruma Amar says she ‘was fighting until the end’

Homicide investigators said they are looking for three male suspects, and at least two of them were armed with handguns. The first is described as wearing a blue hooded shirt and black shoes. The second is described as wearing a black-hooded shirt and black shoes with white soles. A description of the third suspect wasn’t released. Police said the men left heading westbound in a dark-coloured vehicle.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Toronto police homicide squad at 416-808-7400, 32 Division at 416-808-3200, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.