2 more charged in 'heartbreaking' murder of Joshua Bernard-Reis in Scarborough
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A 21-year-old Toronto man and an 18-year-old Brampton man face first-degree murder and attempted murder charges in a 2023 shooting that left Joshua Bernard-Reis, 21, dead.
In announcing the arrests after two others were earlier charged in the same case, Toronto Det. Sgt. Brandon Price said Bernard-Reis had just arrived at his Scarborough home on Danzig St. in the Lawrence Ave. E.-Morningside Ave. area around 11:15 p.m. on Sept. 24, 2023, after helping a family member move when four gunmen in a park across the street started shooting at him near his front door and a passenger in his car.
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“The other victim managed to escape physical injury,” Price said at a Thursday afternoon news conference. “The suspects fled the area in a stolen vehicle. Joshua was rushed to hospital where he remained for two weeks before passing away. This incident is another heartbreaking example of innocent people being caught up in gun violence in our city.”
On Dec. 30., Tyler Brown, 21, of Toronto, and an 18-year-old Brampton man who was a minor when the shooting happened, were both arrested and charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder.
Price said the gunmen specifically targeted neither Bernard-Reis nor his car passenger and police believe it was more of a warning for the neighbourhood that has seen gang violence.
“I can see no reason why he would have been targeted as an individual himself,” the detective said.
“There’s a number of theories that could explain this but Danzig St. has had issues in the past and it seems like there’s a high likelihood that this was a situation where this was a message to the street or something like that. Because there’s no reason why these two individuals would have been targeted themselves,” he added. “They’re not involved in any kind of criminality or gang involvement or anything like this. They’re two hardworking individual people, young persons, who happened to live on Danzig St. This kind of disgusting targeting of innocent people simply because of a neighbourhood they might live in is just a terrible circumstance.”
Earlier, on Nov. 6, 2023, Jermaine Goode, 19, of Markham, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder and on Jan. 25, 2024, a 16 year-old male youth, 16, was charged with the same offences.
Price added “the individuals that we have charged have affiliations with a gang.”
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