Police release video of suspects in Pizza Pizza shooting that killed teen

By News Staff

Toronto police have released surveillance video of suspects who burst into a west end Pizza Pizza last Sunday morning and opened fire, killing a teen boy in what a homicide detective called a “frenzied attack.”

Seventeen-year-old Jarryl Hagley of Toronto died after he was struck in the chest by a blast from a sawed-off shotgun.

Hagley was sitting inside a Pizza Pizza at 1937 Weston Rd. with four other friends when two gunmen — one armed with the shotgun; the other with a handgun — burst into the fast food restaurant and began brazenly firing.

“They just opened fire in the direction of the table with total disregard for the people in the store,” Det. Paul Worden said at a Friday news conference.

Worden says about seven to 10 people, including staff, were inside the restaurant at the time, but Hagley was the only one hit.

Surveillance video shows a dark vehicle, believed to be a Toyota Rav 4, park in the rear of the restaurant. Three suspects, dressed in dark hoodies, exit the vehicle and head towards the restaurant.

One of the suspects stays outside as a lookout, while the other two enter and begin firing. They are in the store for only about five seconds before running back to the getaway vehicle.

A driver is waiting in the vehicle, and the video shows the three suspects hop into the car before it leaves the area.

Det. Worden said police believe Hagley and at least two other friends in the restaurant were the potential targets, although he couldn’t say for certain if the shooters were after a particular individual.

“We still do not know that,” he admitted. “The best we can say is we know that group of people was targeted.”

lookout

Worden said Hagley and his friends scattered into the restaurant’s restroom area in a hallway. It was only then that they noticed Hagley had been struck by a bullet.

He was rushed to hospital, where he later died.

Police said the targets were known to police, but couldn’t elaborate because they are under the age of 18.

Worden also said police believe the murder could have been retaliation for previous shootings in the area over the past several months, but he wouldn’t provide specifics, saying several different motives are still being examined.

When asked if the shooting was gang-related he simply said, “possibly.”

He added that the shooters showed a brazen disregard for life.

“They are very dangerous people; they didn’t care who they hit,” he said. “There were numerous employees inside at the time. It could have been a slaughter.”

WALKING

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