Toronto police say a suspect wanted for first-degree murder after a 32-year-old man was gunned down as he was driving in the city’s west end on Wednesday has been arrested.
Police said Jermaine George Titus, who worked in the restaurant industry, was driving in a 2012 Lexus A25 on Weston Road near Jane Street before 10 a.m. when gunshots were fired by a suspect in a light-coloured SUV. Titus was shot and he died at the scene. A passenger inside the vehicle was not injured.
“Mr. Titus leaves behind his loving family and a four-year-old son. His death was senseless,” Det. Sgt. Michael Patterson told reporters during an update late Thursday afternoon.
“He appeared to be a man who worked very hard and loved his son very much.”
A Canada-wide warrant was issued for 23-year-old Shamoi Palmer. Toronto police said on Thursday that officers arrested the accused earlier in the evening.
Patterson said the shooting wasn’t random. He said investigators are trying to retrace Titus’ movements and interactions before and after he left his home in the Kipling Avenue and Finch Avenue West area at around 8 a.m. as they work to figure out the motive. Patterson said Titus didn’t have any criminal convictions or any connections to gangs.
“This was a targeted shooting, and that’s part of the reason why we’re looking at the last 24 hours of his life to try and determine if there was any premeditation or anything of that sort,” he said.
Meanwhile, Patterson called the shooting “brazen” and said others easily could have been shot.
“It is unique and quite disturbing actually with the amount of people that were in the area when that trigger was pulled … extremely dangerous,” he said.
“People that heard the shots were running from the area, cyclists, children enjoying their summer holidays in their houses — this could have been an awful tragedy.”
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