A 22-year-old OCAD student was just taking some trash out on a cold December evening when a masked suspects shot him numerous times from behind, a killing a veteran homicide detective said Thursday is among one of the most monstrous he’s ever dealt with.
Just after 8 p.m. on Dec. 11, Jeremy Vincent Urbina, an integrated media student at the downtown university, was putting on winter clothes to trudge out to the dumpster near his home in the Sparroway Complex, near Finch Avenue East and Leslie Street.
Det.-Sgt. Terry Browne said that at the same time, two masked males clad in black were wandering through the common areas of Urbina’s complex, on what he believes was a deadly hunt for anyone in their way.
“(Urbina) was unfortunately on that fateful night doing what all of us do – taking garbage out – when this happened to him,” Browne said.
Browne said the two suspects spotted Urbina walking back from the dumpster when one of them approached him from behind and fired numerous rounds into him.
“It’s my investigative belief that the shooters did not know who Mr. Urbina was and he would not have seen these people coming up from behind.”
Police were called by 8:08 p.m. and when they arrived, they found Urbina suffering from gunshot wounds in the “double digits.”
He was pronounced dead on the scene.
The two suspects, one sporting a pink mask over the lower portion of his face, appeared to flee the scene on foot in an unknown direction.
“It’s our investigative belief that these two individuals were there possibly looking for an individual or more disturbingly they could have been looking for anyone who was there.”
In 16 years as a homicide detective, Browne said this killing will stay with him.
“This is one of the most calloused killings I have ever witnessed in this office,” he said. Later he added that he has “probably seen everything that human beings can do to each other, but I’ve probably never seen a human being look to hunt another.”
Browne said Urbina, the youngest of three sons, had no prior contact with law enforcement.
He rued the fact if Urbina had gone out just a touch earlier or later than he did, he may have missed the shooters and been alive today.
“Two minutes earlier, two minutes later, he’s likely not a victim.”
Urbina’s sister-in-law told CTV News Toronto the young man had “this very vibrant energy,” and was relaxed and could easily poke fun at himself.
He was laid to rest on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Browne authorized the release of two surveillance camera images of the suspects.
One is a close up of a young male’s face wearing a pink mask and a hood.
“It would be surprising to me if someone wasn’t able to identify the person in these images,” Browne said.
Surveillance camera footage indicates the two suspects loitered in the common areas of the complex for about six minutes prior to the shooting.
Browne appealed specifically to the male he believes did not pull the trigger, saying that while he is now considered party to the offence, he could turn himself in with a lawyer and cooperate to bring the trigger man to justice.
“The non-shooter has an opportunity to contact us.”
Jeremy’s older brother, Jasper, watched Browne’s press conference despite some of the details weighing heavily on him and his family, especially the detail about his brother’s wounds being in the “double digits.”
“What they did – like Terry Browne said it was evil, I agree it was evil.”
Despite losing his little brother, Jasper still worried what else could have happened last week, if one of his neighbours was out taking the trash instead.
“What if it was a child? Would they have been evil enough to do that too." Jasper Urbina told CTV News Toronto. "It could have been anyone else. It could have been an elderly person. Unfortunately it was my brother.”
He urged anyone who can recognize the shooter’s face to do the right thing.
“If you recognize those features, please, put me and my family at ease, help the police. This should not be something that happens to anyone.”
