A number of males were loudly arguing just before gunshots were fired on a busy Yonge St, one of them killing Jane Creba, a witness said in court Wednesday.

David Tarnowski is the Crown's final witness in the high-profile murder case against the defendant known as J.S.R, who is known that way because he was 17 at the time Creba was killed.

Creba, a 15-year-old out bargain-hunting with her sister, was shot in the back during a shootout on Boxing Day 2005. Six others were wounded when a shootout took place on one of Toronto's busiest streets during one of the busiest shopping days of the year.  

Twenty-year-old J.S.R. -- who can't be fully named because he was a young offender at the time of the shooting -- is also facing six counts of attempted murder.

Tarnowski was sitting in his car on Yonge St., just north of Dundas St., near the Foot Locker store, the day of the shooting.

He gave a description in court of the gunman he saw that night -- which only tenuously described how J.S.R. appeared at the time.

Tarnowski could not say what skin colour the gunman was, but he said the shooter's hair was braided in cornrows. J.S.R. did not have that hair style three year ago, court has heard.

Tarnowski could say the gunman was wearing a white hat and had something white on his chest. J.S.R. was wearing a baseball cap with a white front and an oversized white t-shirt under a dark jacket on the night of the murder.

Tarnowski also said he recognized the gun being fired as a semi-automatic handgun. He explained that in his native Poland, his grandfather was a policeman.

Tarnowski will return to court Thursday for cross-examination.

Court has previously heard that the DNA of two other men has been found on a Ruger 9 mm semi-automatic handgun that police took from J.S.R. when they arrested him at Castle Frank subway station about 40 minutes after the shooting.

The defence has tried to suggest that someone other than J.S.R. fired the handgun that night.

J.S.R. isn't accused of directly killing Creba, but of participating in the gun battle that led to her death. Under advances in Canadian criminal law, J.S.R. could be convicted of murder if the Crown proves he participated in a gunfight and another person returned fire that struck and killed a bystander.

In a criminal trial, the burden is on the Crown to prove the case against the accused "beyond a reasonable doubt." The defence will have an opportunity to call witnesses, but it can also choose not to do so.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Chris Eby