Toronto homicide police say the murder of aspiring rapper Anthony Spencer is connected to three drive-by shootings in Scarborough.
While investigators decried a wall of silence in investigating the case, they were careful to say that the shootings in no way indicate a gang war in the city.
Homicide Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux said Tuesday that two suspects currently in police custody are believed to be responsible for Spencer's death.
Giroux said the two suspects were arrested earlier this week on unrelated criminal offences. He said police will not be able to charge the men in Spencer's death until witnesses come forward and place them at the scene.
"We have done our part, and now we need them to do their part," Giroux told the public in a press conference.
Spencer, 23, died on Jan. 21, after being shot inside a basement recording studio at 799 Brimley Rd., near Lawrence Avenue East in Scarborough.
Police said he was recording hip hop music with friends when he was confronted by a group of people armed with one gun.
Spencer was shot at close range and the suspects fled the scene. The victim's friends rushed him to hospital, dropping him off before fleeing in two cars. The friends have been contacted by police, but have not been helpful in the investigation.
Spencer, the father of a three-year-old daughter, was an aspiring rapper who performed under the name Tony Trapz.
On Tuesday, police released security camera footage captured outside the recording studio of two men and a woman exiting a taxi and entering the building.
The woman was seen exiting the building on two occasions to make calls on her cell phone. The last of those calls was to a cab company requesting a pickup.
In a recording of that call released to the public, a gunshot can be heard in the background.
Giroux said the woman in the video remains at large and he suggested she contact the homicide squad immediately. Giroux said her silence is forcing police to consider her a willing participant in the murder of Anthony Spencer.
"The homicide squad is eager to identify this individual. She has a difficult choice to make. She is either with them or she is against them," Giroux said. "She is either a party of the offence or a witness to the offence. She has to decide."
The woman is described as black with a light complexion, 5' and about 100 lbs. She is petite with a pony tail and was last seen wearing tight jeans and a dark jacket while carrying a large, dark shoulder bag.
No connection to death of Chris Thompson
Toronto police stressed on Tuesday that they have not found any evidence that Spencer's death was connected to the shooting death of Chris Thompson, a barber who was killed while working on Jan. 24.
Police did confirm, however, that Spencer's death was connected to a series of three drive-by shootings in the Malvern area over the weekend.
"The murder of Anthony Spencer and all three drive-by shootings that happened in Malvern on the weekend are linked," 42 Division Supt. Kathryn Martin said, adding that police would not discuss the link between the cases.
"All five of these instances were targeted. Both murder victims were targeted, albeit for different reasons. These were not random events."
Last week, Spencer's sister made a public appeal to her brother's friends, saying that their family was disappointed in their silence and lack of "loyalty".
"I'm from the old school. My friends would have never done that to me. My friends would have come forward. You invite people into your life to share parts of your life, to share memories. You are supposed to have each other's back," Susan Spencer said last week.
