Police release video of brazen daylight triple shooting
Footage shows rapper’s associates firing back at gunman on busy street
Toronto police have released shocking surveillance video that captured a daylight gunfight on the sidewalk of a busy downtown street earlier this week that left a man dead and several others wounded.
The images show a young family preparing to board a vehicle parked on Blue Jays Way thrown into “complete panic” when the shooters began exchanging gunfire at 4 p.m. Tuesday, homicide Det.-Sgt. Andy Singh said. The bullets landed inches from the feet of a sixyear-old boy, and just missed his mother, who was standing by the door of the family vehicle.
“It was a nice, beautiful day, it was 4 p.m. it was broad daylight, and a lot of peoples’ lives could have been put in jeopardy,” Singh told a news conference Thursday. He implored the public to come forward with information, especially after seeing this “heart-wrenching video.”
Killed in the gun battle was 21-year-old Dimarjio Jenkins, a rapper who performed under the name Houdini. Police believe he was the intended target. Investigators are looking into whether the shooting was connected to gang activity, though Singh said it’s too early to say.
The drama unfolded when a man with a handgun attached to a high-capacity magazine emerged from a blue Volkswagen Tiguan SUV and opened fire as Jenkins and two armed associates walked down the street. The two associates, dressed in black, returned shots, as the lone gunman ran away before fleeing in the SUV. Police also released a clear image of one of the alleged associates, who was seen later at a nearby business. In all, 23 shots were fired.
A 15-year-old who was also with Jenkins’ group and discharged a firearm, was wounded and faces weapons charges.
Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders told the news conference it was “beyond comprehension” that the suspects would draw their weapons on a busy downtown street and begin shooting, with “no care in the world” about “killing anyone in their way.”
“These individuals should not be on the street,” Saunders said. “The public, especially Torontonians, deserve better.”
A 27-year-old woman, an innocent bystander, was struck by a stray bullet and is expected to make a full recovery. She cannot be seen in the video.
The lone shooter was wearing a medical mask — similar to the ones many Torontonians are wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. His gun has not been found. But police have recovered two guns believed to belong to Jenkins’ associates. The suspect vehicle, which was rented about a month ago, was discovered burned out in York Region. It is undergoing forensic testing.
Jenkins, who recently returned from Los Angeles to Toronto, was staying in a rented Airbnb in the area, Singh said.
On social media, a flood of fans and high-profile musicians mourned Jenkins as a rising star in the city’s rap scene. He had amassed legions of fans and more than 330,000 monthly listeners on Spotify without any promotional team.
Jenkins’ death is Toronto’s 30th homicide and the 18th fatal shooting this year, the most by this date since 2016.