A shooting that killed 26-year-old Jamal Roache outside a strip mall in North York on Thursday was a calculated and brazen attack, according to Toronto police.
Roache was alone and unarmed while walking outside storefronts near Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue around 11:30 p.m. on Oct. 30.
“As he’s walking through the mall, he’s being stalked by a dark blue or black Honda civic,” Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan said. “Our shooter suspect exits the passenger side of this Honda civic, ambushes Jamal who’s walking by himself and shoots him several times.”
Police released new video surveillance images Saturday that shows Roache tumbling forward a few metres from the impact of what Ryan said is a bullet striking him. As Roache tries to get up and run away, the shooter unleashes several more bullets.
About six to eight bullets struck Roache and he died outside a drugstore in the strip mall. Many stray bullets were also found around his body.
“When you see the attack, it’s bothersome because there’s an unarmed man who’s ambushed by this shooter who just opens up and shoots him to death,” Ryan said.
The surveillance video shows the attacker, who was wearing a grey and black hoodie, dark shoes with white soles and a toque, running back to the vehicle he had exited earlier and climbing into the passenger side. The car then drives away.
Police are hoping the video will prompt witnesses to come forward. They are also looking to speak with the driver of the vehicle who Ryan said may or may not have known what was happening.
“This happened so quickly that perhaps he or she was in shock and continued driving when the shooter got back in the car. But the driver is still culpable and still has responsibility and can be charged criminally with this homicide.”
Ryan said Roache was known to police, but he said he did not know if the shooting was gang-related or not.
Roache’s mother was heartbroken to learn the news of her son’s death, Ryan said.
“Nobody deserves to die like that. Nobody deserves to be gunned down or stalked on our streets,” he said.
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Surveillance video released by Toronto Police Service shows a shooting in a strip mall near Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue that claimed the life of Jamal Roache, 26.
