Police takedown of suspects in Toronto shooting that wounded 12-year-old caught on video

TORONTO — A new video has surfaced showing the dramatic police takedown of two shooting suspects as they left a downtown Toronto hardware store earlier this week.

The men were wanted in connection with a weekend shooting outside an apartment building in the area of Jane Street and Stong Court that injured four people, including a 12-year-old who happened to be walking along the street with his mother at the time.

In the video, which appears to come from a surveillance camera, two plainclothes police officers can be seen stationed outside the main entrance to the Canadian Tire store near Bay and Dundas streets at around 5 p.m. on Monday as they waited for the suspects to come out.

After a few seconds both suspects, one of them holding a shopping bag, are seen stepping outside.

At that precise moment one of the officers lunges at the first suspect, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and tackling him to the ground. The other officer, meanwhile, tackles the second suspect to the ground.

In the video he appears to struggle with the suspect on the ground for a few brief seconds as numerous civilians watch from a distance but eventually gets him under control once five other officers rush in to help.

One of those officers then appears to remove a gun from the suspect, briefly holding it in the air before the video cuts out. Another gun can also be seen on the ground near the other suspect.

Police have previously said that the officers located three loaded handguns following the takedown.

The suspects, identified as Rashawn Chambers, 24, of Toronto and Jahwayne Smart, 25, of no fixed address, are facing a total of 28 charges, including several counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault, discharging a firearm with intent to wound and weapons offences.

Police, however, have said that both men are also suspected in a Nov. 4 shooting at 390 Driftwood Avenue, approximately 850 metres away from the Nov. 7 scene.

On Wednesday, police in Brantford also said that they are working with their counterparts in Toronto to determine whether there are any “possible links” between a shooting at a Comfort Inn in that city in the early hours of Nov. 7 and the quadruple shooting in North York later that day.

Meanwhile, the 12-year-old boy struck by a bullet as he walked along Jane Street with his mother remains in hospital in life-threatening condition.

"Having something like this happen in the middle of the afternoon when they were in the area to do some shopping – frankly it's unbelievable," Interim Police Chief James Ramer said of the incident earlier this week.