Waterloo man charged with first-degree murder for fatal shooting at ‘A Better Tent City’

Police have charged two people for a shooting that killed a resident at ‘A Better Tent City’ last November.

Waterloo Regional Police have made two arrests for the fatal shooting of a 39-year-old man at ‘A Better Tent City’ in Kitchener.

On the afternoon of Nov. 30, 2024, first responders were called to 49 Ardelt Avenue, the tiny home community for those experiencing chronic homelessness. There they found a man with a gunshot wound.

The victim, who was never identified, later died in hospital.

Residents told CTV News he showed up at ‘A Better Tent City’ two years prior to the shooting.

“He was homeless and broken,” recalled Nadine Green, co-founder of ‘A Better Tent City,’ on Dec. 2. “He had nowhere to go. He was just very happy, grateful. When he got his house, he cried and cried. He was just so happy.”

Police said they arrested Muhamad Taupan on July 29. The 19-year-old man from Waterloo was charged with first-degree murder.

A second man, 22-year-old Omar Bashir of Ottawa, was arrested on July 30. He was charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

Waterloo Regional Police said the worked with the Peel Regional Police Service, Ottawa Police Service, Toronto Police Service, Windsor Police Service and Peterborough Police Service, as well as the Ontario Provincial Police’s Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) unit to make the arrests.