Peel police release video of gang shooting in Malton
September attack has been linked to killing of rapper Giovanni
Two men have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder over a brazen daylight g gunfight that left left an innocent 17-year-old dead in what Peel police are calling the largest gang shooting in the region’s history.
At a Tuesday news conference, Peel police showed dramatic video of the Sept. 14 at tack that left Jonathan Davis,17, dead and five other injured at an apartment building on Dar cel Avenue in Malton.
Police on Tuesday also linked the killing to another gang-re- lated attack that left 28-yearold Giovanni Delahaye dead in a car by a highway off-ramp in October.
A total of 141 rounds were recovered following the “absolutely horrifying" September shooting, Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said, describing the attack as possibly the largest single gang shooting the province has seen.
“Many children were outside playing” that evening, he said.
Police on Tuesday described the shooting as a targeted attack from one rival group upon another. While one group of males was gathered in the parking lot of the t Darcel Avenue complex, an- other drove up in a Hyundai Santa Fe SUV and a Nissan Sen tra, Supt. Martin Ottaway said, describing a series of three sur lance videos showing the at- tack.
In the first clip, the two suspect vehicles can be seen pulling alongside each other at an intersection near the Malton housing complex. In the second, the vehicles are next seen pulling into the apartment building parking lot, where several armed gunmen exit.
In a final video, those shooters pounce on a large group that had gathered in the parking lot. The gunmen open fire indiscriminately as several men in the target group of at least 15 people scramble to escape while others duck down be tween t parked cars. total of six people were hit in the gunfire, police said: Davis, a 13- year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy, two 17-year-old boys and a 50-year-old woman.
The two female victims were shot inside the apartment building; just three of the victims were in the target group, Ottaway said.
Davis was shot in the head while walking toward his fa- ther’s t house through the par- kette behind the apartment complex, where he lived.
Soon after his death, a family friend described Davis as a “homebody” who often helped out around the house. According to the friend, he had just turned back to get shoes after realizing he was wearing slip pers.
The other five victims have all since been released from hospital, although one suffered what police called “life-altering” injuries.
“We are sharing this video along with a plea for help from the community for information,” Dept. chief Nick Milinovich said Tuesday.
Peel police have charged two men in connection with the attack, alleging they were part of the group that planned it.
Jahvon Valdez, 21, of Brampton, was arrested on Thursday; Safeer Ahmad, 19, of Mississauga, turned himself in to police Sunday. Both men are charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Valdez has also been charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm.
The month after Davis was shot, Delahaye, an underground rapper who performed under the name Giovanni, was killed when gunmen drove up and a opened fire on a car waiting on the Highway 410 off-ramp at Derry Road on Oct. 22.
“Both these incidents are related,” Ottaway said, adding that the shooter s were target- ing people from the same rival group in both cases.