A Toronto man facing murder charges in Thursday’s fatal crossbow attack was previously arrested in connection with a string of bank robberies, police have confirmed.

In a news release Friday, police said 35-year-old Brett Ryan has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder after three people died on a residential street in Scarborough on Thursday.

Police later confirmed to CTV News that Ryan had been arrested in 2008 in connection with a string of bank robberies in Toronto and Durham region.

Described in 2008 as the “Fake Beard Bandit,” Ryan was accused of robbing more than a dozen banks by allegedly indicating to the teller that he was armed, and demanding cash.

In January 2009, he was convicted on charges related to the bank robberies and served three years and nine months behind bars.

On Thursday, police were called to the scene of the triple-fatality near Markham Road and Eglinton Ave. East over reports of a stabbing.

Officers arrived on scene shortly after 1 p.m. to find two men and a woman with life-threatening injuries. One man and the woman were found in a rear garage. Another man was located steps away, on a driveway. All died at the scene.

CTV News is unable to identify the victims due to a court-ordered publication ban.

A police source told CTV News that at least two victims were hit by a crossbow bolt.

Shortly after arriving at the house, police found a crossbow nearby and they located an injured 35-year-old man. He was taken into custody.

Brett Ryan made an appearance in a Toronto court on Friday. He spoke only to his lawyer and looked straight ahead. He was remanded into custody until Sept. 2.

CTV News has learned that Ryan had planned to get married in Ancaster in about three weeks.

The grim case again took another strange turn Thursday when a condo building in downtown Toronto was briefly evacuated over concerns of a suspicious package.

Police found no threat, but Det. Sgt. Mike Carbone told reporters Thursday afternoon that “there is a link” between the Scarborough crime scene and the suspicious package found at 218 Queen’s Quay, near Toronto’s waterfront.

New details

A neighbour who lives across the street from the crime scene said a man in distress ran to his house on Thursday afternoon.

“He said, ‘Call 911, my brother is bleeding in the driveway,’” the neighbour told CTV Toronto. “(He said,) ‘Make sure the police come and find my mom.’ He kept saying, ‘Make sure the police come.’”

The neighbour then dialled 911, handed the phone to his wife and ran across the street. That’s when he found a man lying on the driveway.

“The chap was lying in the driveway covered in blood. So I came back and said, ‘Get me a towel and I’ll see if I can stop the bleeding.’ So I went over with a towel and I looked and (there was) too much blood,” he said.

Autopsies were conducted on the three bodies on Friday. Results have not been released.

Questions about crossbow

As investigators try to determine what exactly led to the fatal attack, there are questions being raised about how a shooter could reload a crossbow quickly enough to target multiple people.

In this case, the shooter was said to have used crossbow bolts, not arrows. Bolts are shorter and thicker, and are known for their power and accuracy.

In a statement to CTV News, Public Safety Canada spokesperson Jean-Philippe Levert said that crossbows can be aimed and fired with one hand. Crossbows with an overall length of 500 millimetres or less are prohibited in Canada.

“There are no licensing or registration requirements to possess any other type of bow, including a crossbow that is longer than 500 mm and that requires the use of both hands,” Levert said in an email.

As police and emergency responders cordoned off the street Thursday to investigate, neighbours described hearing screams coming from a garage just before 1 p.m. that lasted about five minutes. Then all went quiet.

Officers have remained tight-lipped as the investigation gets underway, but police did reveal that one of the now-deceased victims called 911 as he lay with grave injuries on the driveway.

Many on the street say they are rattled by the incident.

“It’s a very quiet neighbourhood, it’s a very peaceful neighbourhood and everybody gets along so this is not normal,” resident Faiza Siddiqui said.

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said Friday that there is no reason for any member of the public to be concerned because “all involved have been apprehended.”

Neighbours told CTV News that the home where the incident occurred is owned by 66-year-old Susan Ryan, who is retired and has four adult sons.

With a report from CTV Toronto