An 18-year-old London, Ont., man is among three people who have been arrested and charged in connection with a drive-by shooting at a bakery in Toronto’s Little Jamaica neighbourhood in September that left six people injured, police said Monday.
The news comes more than two months after the shooting, which occurred around 2 a.m. on Sept. 2 at Spence’s Bakery on Eglinton Avenue West near Oakwood Avenue.
Police said a dark SUV driving along Eglinton Avenue West had slowed down in front of the bakery, at which point several shots were fired by the vehicle’s occupants, striking six people who had been grouped together in front of the bakery taking shelter from the rain.
The SUV fled west down Eglinton, and the six injured, which included a woman and five men between the ages of 30 and 69, were taken to various hospitals. Five were released later that day.
At the time, investigators said the shooting had the hallmarks of a gang-related and targeted event, and that they believed some of the victims hit were bystanders.
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On Monday, police said investigation had led them to arrest three people in the case, including two 16-year-old boys, one from Brampton, the other from Toronto, and the 18-year-old London man, identified as Illia Ayo.
All three face the same eight charges, which include six counts of aggravated assault; discharging a firearm recklessly; unauthorized possession of a firearm; possession of a loaded, prohibited or restricted firearm; and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
The Brampton teen appeared in court on Nov. 3, while the Toronto teen had a court date on Monday. Ayo is expected to appear in court on Wednesday.
The charges aren’t the only ones Ayo is currently dealing with.
The 18-year-old is also facing a slew of charges in Halton Region after a traffic stop in Milton on Oct. 6, just over a month after the bakery shooting, turned up a firearm and drugs, police say.
In that case, Ayo faces charges multiple weapons-related offences, including unauthorized possession of a firearm, as well as a charge of possession for the purpose of trafficking involving fentanyl.
Ayo was also charged over the summer in connection with an apparent sneaker sale-turned-gunpoint carjacking in Brampton on July 17.
Peel Regional Police said that incident occurred just before 3 a.m. following a meeting to facilitate the sale of high-end sneakers.
A Mercedes SUV containing the merchandise was stolen after two men arrived at the scene and pointed guns at the heads of both groups involved in the transaction, police said.
Police later found the vehicle near Horizon Drive and Farrah Road in London alongside some of the stolen property and an imitation firearm.
Ayo and two other Londoners, Stephen Ayo, 20, and Jahvahn George, 20, face charges of robbery, imitation firearm use while committing an offence and disguise with intent in the case.
Another London man, Madout Lual, 21, was also charged with possession of property obtained by crime and failure to comply with an undertaking, while a London woman, Emma O’Connor, 21, was charged with possession of property obtained by crime.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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