Five suspects, including two teenagers, have been charged in connection with a deadly shooting near a Brampton elementary school earlier this year.
The shooting happened shortly after 10:20 p.m. on April 3, near Rutherford and Kennedy roads.
Peel Regional Police said officers found a man in his 20s suffering from multiple gunshot wounds when they arrived at the scene.
Near Weybridge Trail, not too far away from the school grounds, a second victim, a male youth, was located with a gunshot wound.
Police said the two victims were shot at the same location but one attempted to flee before collapsing a short distance away. They both died at the scene.
“At the request of the families, we will not be identifying either of the deceased parties,” Insp. Mike Mavity said at a news conference on Monday.
Police said they also recovered three firearms in the immediate area: a .22-calibre firearm, a 9mm handgun, and a 5.56 calibre long gun.
“One of our K-9 officers located another firearm on an adjacent street. In total, there were five firearms recovered as a result of this murder and investigation,” Mavity said, adding that it is unclear at this time if they were illegal firearms, though he assumes so.
2 groups involved in shooting: police
“Through our investigation, we’ve identified two groups—two separate groups—that were involved in this incident, with one deceased representing an individual from each group,” he said at a news conference on Monday. He added that they don’t believe this shooting was gang related.
While investigators said in April that an altercation broke out between several people on the school grounds, Mavity told reporters they now don’t believe that was the case.
“We believe there was an aspect of criminality which brought these two groups together,” he said.
“Unfortunately, I will not comment on what the act of criminality was but believe that was the purpose why these two separate groups came together.”
Police said in a news release on Monday that, following a thorough investigation, they arrested five people between May and July.
The five suspects, hailing from Brampton, Orangeville and Toronto, face a combined total of 16 charges.
Jahnoi Bell, 21, and the two 17-year-olds, face two counts each of first-degree murder.
Mcaium Aarons, 25, has been charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and breach of probation order. Jayden Christmah, 23, faces one charge of possession of firearm for the purpose of trafficking.
The charges have not been tested in court and the youths cannot be identified under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
‘Extremely concerning’
The teenagers’ charges are “extremely concerning” for Peel police, Mavity said, and noted that there has been an uptick in shootings in the region.
“We’ve had at the end of July over 116 shootings and over just under 1,000 rounds of ammunition that ahs been fired,” he said.
“I am a father and, obviously as a member of Peel Regional Police, it’s extremely concerning.”
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Jermaine Wilson
