Police say a 28-year-old man was shot 20 times by “three extremely dangerous individuals” after leaving a private party at a restaurant owned by Drake Sunday night.
At a news conference Friday, Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux said the victim was at Pick 6ix in the area of Yonge and Wellington streets around 9 p.m. with a woman. The pair was walking along Wellington Street West when three suspects in a black Honda Civic, driving the wrong-way down Wellington Street West, made a U-turn towards them.
“They pull up to the deceased and soon as the deceased sees them he begins to run, and two suspects get out of the car and begin to shoot,” Giroux said.
Police released footage on Friday of the three armed assailants chasing the victim down a ramp towards a parking garage at 18 Wellington Street West. Two of the suspects were running after the man on foot and the other was driving behind them. The video shows the victim falling before gunfire erupted.
The two assailants travelling on foot are seen shooting at the victim. The Honda Civic pulls up and the driver is also seen shooting the victim through an open window.
The suspects then get back into the car and reverse back up the ramp of the parking garage. The vehicle was last seen heading southbound on Bay Street approaching the area of Union Station. Giroux said the assumption is that the vehicle was travelling towards the Gardiner Expressway or Lake Shore Boulevard.
The victim was identified Monday by police as Jaiden Jackson. Police said he was transported to the hospital, but was later pronounced dead.
The autopsy revealed that Jackson had been struck by 20 bullets. Giroux said that Jackson was clearly targeted by the assailants.
Police said Jackson “had a history” with Toronto police, but the focus of the investigation is on finding the suspects involved in the incident.
Giroux believes the suspects were aware of video surveillance in the area and wore hooded sweatshirts to cover their faces.
“(The suspects) must have been aware that there was video in this area but they don’t seem to be overly concerned about it,” he said.
Giroux describes the Honda Civic as a four-door vehicle with a sunroof, potential model year of 2010 to 2012.
Drake was at the restaurant for a couple hours over the long weekend, but Giroux said he does not know whether the rapper was present at the time of the shooting. It’s also not clear whether or not Jackson was invited to the party or attended as a guest of another individual, as everyone invited was permitted to bring friends.
The woman who left the party with Jackson has been found by police and officers said she is cooperating with the investigation.
Giroux said there are “three extremely dangerous individuals that we want to apprehend as soon as possible.” Anyone with information about that night, or about any problems Jackson might have been having at the time of his death, is being urged to contact police.
