Man, 25, faces 11 charges in fatal gunfight in city’s east end
A 25-year-old man is facing several gun charges in connection with what police have described as a gun battle that left two people dead and two others wounded in Scarborough earlier this summer.
On Tuesday, police said in a news release that the Toronto man is accused of using a firearm to “fire back at the suspects” in the July 24 shooting.
Court records show he is facing 11 charges, including pointing a firearm, discharging a firearm with intent to endanger life, disguise with intent, possessing a loaded firearm and three counts of possessing a firearm or ammunition contrary to a prohibition order.
The gunfire broke out at a plaza at Ellesmere and Birkdale roads at around 2:30 a.m., according to police.
When officers arrived, they found four people with gunshot wounds. Police said a man died at the scene while a woman died of her injuries in hospital. The victims were identified as Sarah Prehay, 23, and Braydon McCann, 22. Two men were also rushed to a local trauma centre with serious injuries.
Det. Rod Benson told reporters the shooting appeared to have been “some kind of gun battle” involving multiple firearms, including one recovered at the scene. Upwards of 50 evidence markers, many of them next to bullet casings, were visible at the scene.
Police have not shared any new information about potential suspects responsible for Prehay and McCann’s deaths.
At the time of the shooting, investigators said they were still looking into whether the victims knew each other.
This week, Toronto homicide Det.-Sgt. Amanda Thornton, the lead investigator on the case, told the Star there was no information indicating that Prehay and McCann knew one another — despite rumours and false narratives online suggesting otherwise.
Thornton also said that Prehay was an “innocent bystander” standing in the plaza when the shots rang out. She said investigators were still determining if McCann was targeted.