The illegal semi-automatic handgun used in Sunday’s deadly rampage in Toronto’s Greektown that killed two people and injured 13 others was stolen during a break-and-enter in Saskatoon in 2015, a police source told CTV News.
A source familiar with the case told CP24 on Wednesday that the gun used by Faisal Hussain, the 29-year-old man who police claim carried out the shooting before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was likely obtained from a “gang-related source.”
The theft of the firearm used by Hussain occurred around the same time that Hussain’s brother Fahad, who is currently in a drug-induced coma, was arrested in Saskatoon on drug charges, court documents seen by CTV Saskatoon show.
In 2015, Saskatoon police stopped a rental car and found more than $2,000 in cash, as well as 26 pieces of crack cocaine packaged for trafficking.
Fahad and another woman were arrested and charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime.
Court documents seen by CTV Saskatoon show that he was released on $3,000 bail a few days later and subjected to a number of conditions, including that he not possess a cellphone, stay away from drugs and alcohol and live at an apartment building in Toronto’s Thorncliffe Park neighbourhood, where Hussain also lived.
Police sources told CTV News that they found both ammunition and high-capacity magazines during their search of the seventh-floor apartment after the shooting.
Fahad was slated to appear in a Saskatoon court for trial in 2017, but the file was later transferred to Ontario, where court documents seen by CTV Saskatoon show he was expected to plead guilty. Instead, prosecutors stayed the charges against him after an overdose left him in a coma in a hospital, where he remains today.
Police are also investigating a possible link between Fahad and the seizure of more than 30 guns in Pickering, Ont. last year.
The gun, which is illegal in Canada, was originally from the United States, police sources told CP24 on Wednesday, adding that American authorities are helping to track the gun’s exact origin.
Hussain opened fire on a bustling stretch of Toronto’s Danforth Avenue late Sunday night, indiscriminately shooting at pedestrians as well as people in restaurants and cafes.
Reese Fallon, an 18-year-old woman who was planning to study nursing at McMaster University in the fall, and Juliana Kozis, a 10-year-old girl who was a competitive synchronized swimmer, were killed in the attack. Thirteen others were injured.
With a report from CTV Saskatoon’s Angelina Irinici
