Banquet hall shooting victim had gang links

Toronto Police released this photo of Alton Reid, the city's 54th homicide victim of 2009.

Toronto's 54th homicide victim has been identified as someone who had belonged to the notorious Malvern Crew street gang.

Alton Reid, 35, had been attending a birthday party at the Atlanta banquet hall on 1240 Ellesmere Rd. in Scarborough on the weekend when someone walked in and started shooting sometime after 3 a.m. on Sunday.

Four people were found wounded at the scene, and Reid showed up later at hospital. He died of his injuries on Monday.

Reid's autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.

Police are asking for potential witnesses to call Det. Paul Worden at 416-808-7382, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at www.222tips.com, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637).

He had been arrested in 2004 as part of Project Impact, a police crackdown on the gang following a vicious war between the Malvern Crew and the Galloway Boys.

Police charged Reid with a number of offences:

Project Pathfinder targeted the Galloway Boys.

Three Galloway Boys were found guilty in the March 3, 2004 murder of one men in Malvern. The court heard the trio were allegedly looking for Reid.

Instead, they shot and killed Brenton Charlton and gravely wounded Leonard Bell as the two men sat stopped in their car at a light.

Tyshan Riley, Philip Atkins and Jason Wisdom got life sentences for the attempted murder of Bell and a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years after being convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Charlton.