Ex-gang leader shot in fitness class
Was leading ‘prison pump’ at Christie Pits park when he and second man were attacked
A self-described former gang leader who was trying to start his life over after being convicted in a drug-trafficking investigation in 2007, was shot and seriously wounded while teaching a fitness class in Christie Pits Park.
On Saturday, just before 9 a.m., officers responded to reports of a shooting with multiple people injured at Bloor St. W. and Christie St. They arrived and found a man shot in the stomach with life-threatening injuries and another with serious injuries after being shot during the fitness class. Both men were transported to hospital.
Police have released a photo of a suspect, who was participating in the fitness class, police say. He is described as 25 to 30 years old, fivefoot-eight to five-foot-nine with short cornrows that were visible from beneath his baseball cap.
Darnell Simpson, a trainer, said that Alejandro Vivar, 35, his partner in the non-profit organization, 25/7 Fitness, was “shot numerous times.” Police have not identified either victim in the shooting.
The class, Prison Pump, was started by Vivar, who also goes by the name Jose. He earned his personal-training-specialist certification while in prison and was released from Bath Institution correctional facility in March, according to the website for 25/7 Fitness. He started the fitness camp in May.
In 2004, a jury found Vivar, then 23, and another man not guilty in the execution-style slaying of Gary Malo outside a café on Bloor St. W. Malo, who police say was a member of the Christie Boys gang, as reported in The Star at the time, was shot once in the chest and once in the head at close range at a restaurant called Jose’s Café, near Bloor and Christie, an area that was known at the time to be riddled with gang activity.
Police said at the time that Vivar was a gang leader, of the Latin Americanos, also known as the L.A. Boys, a street gang that started in the area now known at Koreatown.
In 2007, Vivar and nine other men were arrested in a drug-trafficking investigation. He was convicted of multiple gun and drug charges.
John Struthers, who has been Vivar’s criminal defence lawyer since 2004, said he had kept in contact with Vivar and said he was “really trying” to turn his life around.
“Clearly then, he was targeted,” Struthers said. “I really think he was straight and going well. He was very proud of his kids and was determined to make a good life.”
During his time in prison, Struthers said that Vivar wrote to him often, expressing his excitement for his future fitness business. Vivar also wrote a prison diary for The Kingston Whig-Standard.
“For those who don’t know, I entered prison a gangster, convicted of serious crimes. It was the only lifestyle I knew for as long as I can remember,” Vivar’s last blog entry reads.
“Then years went by, my children grew into little men, my parents aged, I myself grew older and began to learn about myself, my weaknesses, my insecurities, and as time went on realized the things I needed to do to change.”
The day that Vivar was released, he paid a visit to Struthers, who said he was ready to restart his life.
“This is one reason why it’s so hard to get out of the lifestyle. You remain in danger,” Struthers said. “I’ve been a defence lawyer for 30 years and I’ve lost maybe 15 or 20 clients or former clients to violence.”
According to police, the victim who sustained life-threatening injuries has since had surgery and is in stable condition. The condition of the sec0ond victim is not known. With files from Laura Beeston, Betsy Powell and Peter Small