TORONTO -- A $75,000 reward is being offered to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of a man wanted in connection with a brazen daylight shooting at a Scarborough playground that left two young girls injured two years ago.
On the evening of June 14, 2018, two sisters, ages five and nine, were at a playground near McCowan Road and McNicoll Avenue along with as many as nine other children when gunshots rang out.
The two young girls were struck by bullets during the gunfire and were rushed to hospital for treatment.
Both survived the shooting.
Investigators have said that they believe the intended target was a man who was at the park that night with his daughter.
Two men were subsequently arrested in connection with the shooting but a third suspect, identified by police as T’Quan Robertson, has not yet been located.
Last year, a $50,000 reward was announced for information leading to the arrest of Robertson, who is wanted for attempted murder, discharging a firearm with intent, and two counts of aggravated assault.
In partnership with Crime Stoppers, the Bolo (Be on lookout) program announced Monday that the reward has now been bumped up to $75,000.
"We are hoping that by adding more money to the reward that somebody might decide that it is now worth their while to make that call," Gotell said.
"Mr. Robertson has been on the run for two years now but we are going to catch him sooner or later."
Gotell said the reward can be claimed anonymously.
"The Toronto police is not looking for witnesses and we are not looking for evidence to help us with this investigation. Our case is concluded and we are ready to go trial," he added. "What we need is to know where Mr. Robertson is."
He warned that anyone who is helping the suspect hide from police will face charges.
"To the family, friends, and associates of T’Quan Robertson, if you are helping him, know this. The Toronto police will arrest and charge you with being an accessory after the fact. We've done this already in relation to this case," Gotell said.
He noted that police believe Robertson is still in the Greater Toronto Area.
"We were very close to catching him on a couple of occasions," Gotell said. "We believe that Mr. Robertson is dangerous and we want to take this offender off the streets."
Girls 'will never be the same,' mom says
As part of the Bolo program, posters, billboards, and even masks with Roberston’s image on them will be distributed around the city.
“If you’re helping him, do the right thing, because you will get charged with aiding a criminal,” Stacey King, the mother of the two injured girls, said on Monday. “You know what he did to innocent children that didn’t have to be shot.”
She said her children are “traumatized” by the incident and her youngest daughter still has nightmares about what happened.
“You turned my whole life upside down, my children’s lives upside down, they will never be the same, my family will never be the same,” she said. “You need to turn yourself in and do what you need to do.”
