Boy, 15, facing murder charge after quadruple shooting
Teen charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder
Ottawa police homicide detectives allege a 15-year-old boy helped plan and execute a quadruple shooting at a Gilmour Street Airbnb that left 18-year-old Manyok Akol dead.
The teen, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested late Thursday afternoon, nearly four months to the day that police allege he set up a targeted shooting that caused frenzy and havoc in a Centretown neighbourhood and forever changed the lives of four families.
He appeared in court Friday and was charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder.
Bullets were fired in the early morning of Jan. 8. Police allege the teen in custody went into the Airbnb at 490 Gilmour St., followed closely by the suspected shooter who remains at large.
Both of them were allegedly captured on video running from the scene. Police released that video in the course of their investigation.
It’s one of two times homicide detectives appealed publicly to identify the youth.
At the end of January, police also released an image of the same boy saying he was seen leaving the ByWard Market area in a taxi the night Markland Campbell was shot dead in the summer of 2019. A week later, police knew his name and that he was a minor. At the time, he was 14.
Just weeks before his Ottawa arrest, the teen was also charged in a Waterloo, Ont., armed robbery on April 19.
Police there allege a stolen firearm was used in a robbery at an apartment building in which one person was injured.
Two others were arrested and a warrant was issued for the teen who was charged with robbery and weapons offences.
The teen was remanded into custody at an Ottawa youth detention centre Friday and is scheduled to appear in youth court next week.
His alleged victims were sleeping when they were attacked in January.
Akol was shot in the eye and pronounced dead once first responders arrived.
His 20-year-old friend was shot in the back and Akol’s 19-year-old cousin was shot in the neck, shattering his jaw.
A 15-year-old male was also shot and survived. A fifth man in the same unit escaped the gunfire uninjured.
Akol was an aspiring rapper who performed as FTG Metro and was a former high-school football star. His songs were anthems for the Ritchie Street project where his family and friends continue to mourn him.
His music told of the hardship in the neighbourhood, the dreams to make it out and the lure of money, drugs and guns.
His videos honoured other young men lost to gun violence in the neighbourhood.
Akol had already survived a shooting in August 2019.
His mother, Amuk Atak, wept at a vigil held in his name in January, a sign next to her begged for justice and for people to “stop killing our children.”
Lead investigator Det. Chris Benson said the “arrest provides some relief for a mother who has lost a child and three other mothers who have watched their children suffer.”
Benson thanked the community for coming forward with information to help the case, but continued to plead for any information about the second suspect, seen wearing a blue jacket walking eastbound on Gilmour Street in the moments before the shooting and running away afterwards.
Police also continue to seek tips about the alleged murder weapon described as a handgun with a suppressor.
Benson said detectives are “vigorously pursuing this investigation into the second suspect.”
“I am confident this investigation will resolve with the arrest and charge of the second suspect.” With files from Gary Dimmock