‘Hard to comprehend:’ Police make arrests in wave of tow-truck related violence, mass shooting at Scarborough pub

WARNING – Graphic content: Video released by Toronto Police shows a mass shooting at the Piper Arms pub in Scarborough on March 7.

Toronto police say they’ve arrested 10 people and laid more than 200 charges in connection with a wave of tow-truck related violence across the GTA as well as mass shooting at a Scarborough pub that injured a dozen people in March.

The shooting at the Piper Arms pub near Progress Avenue and McCowan Road took place just after 10:30 p.m. on March 7.

Video footage released by police on Wednesday shows three masked suspects firing indiscriminately inside the pub as patrons run and hide for cover. One of the suspects appears to be holding an assault-style weapon and is seen discharging dozens of rounds.

Police have said that 12 people were injured at the pub, including nine who were shot. All victims survived, though police say some sustained life-altering injuries.

One of the victims sustained six gunshot wounds, according to police.

“No one was killed which is truly a miracle but the effects of this mass shooting remain devastating for the victims and for the sense of safety in our communities,” Toronto Police Chief Myron Denkiw said during a news conference on Wednesday. “The indiscriminate nature of this gun violence is hard to comprehend.”

In a news release on Wednesday, police said that investigators were able to establish “connections” between the pub shooting and several other previously unsolved shooting and firearm discharge incidents in Toronto related to the tow truck industry.

Those incidents all took place between March and May.

Of the 10 people taken into custody, three are facing charges specifically related to the pub shooting while the others are charged in connection with separate incidents.

The three suspects alleged to have been involved in the pub shooting are Sheldon Gordon, 19, of Toronto, Juevar Griffith, 19, of Toronto, and Kayjean Morrison, 22, of Toronto.

Gordon is also facing charges in connection with shooting incidents that took place over the span of a few hours on March 4.

Police say that the victims in those shootings included a man who was washing his truck at gas station near Lawrence and Warden avenues, a man who was walking near a tow truck yard in the Weston Road and St. Clair Avenue area and a man who was getting out of a vehicle at the same tow truck yard.

Surveillance video of some of the other incidents was released by police on Wednesday.

Supt. Paul MacIntyre told reporters that investigators have not linked the pub shooting to any tow-truck related violence at this point but continue to investigate that possibility.

MacIntyre called the incidents a “terrifying series of events” involving suspects who “opened fire in public spaces, seemingly without hesitation.”

He added that police do not consider the suspects to be part of a gang and instead believe that they are a loose collective of friends and associates.

“We think it is all the same group of guys that are kind of doing these shootings and probably for hire,” he said.

Police are continuing to search for an 11th suspect in connection with the March 4 shootings that predated the Piper Arms incident.

Daykwon Joseph, 20, of Toronto, is wanted on 27 charges, including one count of attempted murder.

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said officers “left no stone unturned” in conducting the investigation and vowed they’d continue to use “every tool” to combat gun violence.

Mayor Olivia Chow, meanwhile, shared a post to social media, thanking investigators for finding those responsible for the “horrific” violence at the Piper Arms pub.

The investigation remains active and police are urging anyone with information to contact them or Crime Stoppers.

For a full list of the suspects and the charges they are facing view the news release here.