Police investigating attack on Brampton, Ont. media personality as attempted murder
Graphic content warning: This story contains details readers may find disturbing.
A Brampton, Ont. media personality who was attacked with a machete and axe in his driveway will need months of physical rehabilitation to recover, a close friend says.
On the morning of Aug. 4, Joti Singh Mann was getting into his parked Jeep when he was approached by a man wielding an axe.
Video obtained from the scene shows a suspect swinging the blade into the vehicle after Mann shut the car door.
Two other men then appear in the frame, one armed with a machete, and attack Mann.
The three supsects pull Mann from his vehicle, bringing him to the end of the driveway, and continue to assault him. The violence only ends when a woman, identified as Mann’s mother, exits the home to render aid.
“She ran out – it was a pure reaction on her part and it certainly contributed to him still being here today,” Peel Regional Police Supt. Sean Gormley told reporters on Thursday.
Gormley said they have reason to believe Mann was targeted, but did not share what information police received to make that conclusion.
Mann's mother told CP24 he received a threat while recording a recent episode of his podcast.
Gormley said police were made aware of that threat and were actively investigating it.
“A safety plan was put in place with victim at the time the threat was reported,” he said.
Brampton councillor Gurpreet Singh Dhillon said Mann suffered the loss of a big toe and use of one hand in the attack, and also received 150 stitches.
“Doctors say he will make a recovery but it will take a few months of rehabilitation to regain the use (of his hand), Dhillon said.
Dhillon also said Mann’s assault is the third violent incident involving a Punjabi language media personality in Brampton in the past 12 months.
In one instance, a media host’s home was the target of gunfire. In another, suspects confronted a media host with a gun as he was leaving his studio.
“Whether you agree or disagree with them, there shouldn’t be any violence against them, so we’re hopeful there are more leads in those investigations as well,” Dhillon said.
Gormley said there are active investigations underway for all three incidents, and he did not have information to suggest Mann’s assault was tied to the earlier incidents targeting other media personalities.
He said the three suspects in Mann’s assault, which he characterized as an attempted murder, wore mostly black clothing, black gloves and surgical masks covering their faces
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