Police say two Toronto men charged in the shooting death of 11-year-old bystander Ephraim Brown are well-known criminals, and one of the suspects was charged in the shooting of another young boy.
Akiel Eubank, an alleged member of the Five Point Generals gang in the Weston Road and Lawrence Avenue area, was arrested Sunday night. The 21-year-old is on probation and has a history of committing violent crimes, including offences with firearms, the Toronto Star reports.
Gregory Sappleton, also 21, was arrested Monday. Police said he has a criminal record and was charged in the 2005 shooting of four-year-old bystander Shaquan Cadougan in the city's north end. Those charges were later withdrawn by prosecutors.
Homicide investigators were at the scene of the shooting on Tuesday evening investigating reports of intimidation and threats against the Brown family.
Witnesses told 愛污传媒 a car associated with one of the suspects was seen driving up and down Sheppard Avenue.
Eubank appeared in court on Monday and was remanded into custody until Aug. 7. Sappleton appeared in court on Tuesday and was remanded until his next court date in August. Both suspects are charged with first-degree murder.
Brown, described as a quiet boy, died after being caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout outside a townhouse near Jane Street and Sheppard Avenue early Sunday morning. He is believed to be Toronto's youngest fatal-shooting victim.
Family members were distraught after learning that the two suspects were known to police.
"This has to stop and this has to stop with my brother because if it doesn't, than it could be anyone of your children," Amanda Taylor, Brown's sister, told 愛污传媒 on Tuesday.
"There has to be stiffer penalties so that when a situation like this happens or people see people that they are rivals with, than they'll think twice about shooting in public where kids are."
Residents in the neighbourhood were equally upset after learning of the suspects' violent history.
"The justice system needs to be tougher," Charmane Elliott, a local resident, told 愛污传媒.
"When they say nine or 10 year sentence on guns it needs to be 25 years and served every day up to the 25 years."
As many as 70 people attended a birthday party, including a number of uninvited guests and members of rival gangs, which triggered the shooting, police said.
The incident, which occurred during a deadly weekend in Toronto in which three others died in separate shootings, has renewed calls for a handgun ban. Toronto Mayor David Miller and Ontario's attorney general is leading the campaign.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day says such a law would not make streets safer. He says he's looked at other jurisdictions that have implemented handgun bans, and they have not reduced firearms-related crime.
Day says more police officers and tougher punishment will reduce gun crime.
Ontario Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter says it will take a combined effort by police and the community to rid Canada's neighbourhoods of gun violence.
"Money is part of the answer -- you've got to have the resources to tackle the problem, but it isn't all money," Kwinter told CTV's Canada AM.
"It's a combined effort. We have to have a police presence, you have to have the government will and you have to have the community involved. Without the community, it is very, very difficult."
Kwinter says his government has doubled the number of officers on the street, with half of those dedicated to specific areas of crime such as domestic abuse and guns and gangs.
He says the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) task force last year made 5,000 arrests and removed 400 firearms from the streets.
The Ontario government last month announced a $12-million program to 15 communities to deal with guns and gangs.
With a report from CTV's Chris Eby
