2 arrested, charged over 2023 Scarborough homicide

Police say they believe they have now apprehended all four shooters involved in the 2023 killing of a Scarborough man, after two people were arrested and charged late last month.

The newly accused are both charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with the death of Joshua Bernard-Reis, a 21-year-old who was shot in his Scarborough driveway on Sept. 24, 2023 for reasons still unknown to police.

"This incident is another heartbreaking example of innocent people being caught up by gun violence in our city," Det. Sgt. Brandon Price told reporters Thursday. "These arrests of the four suspects demonstrate our dedication and hard work to bring justice to these incidents."

The accused are a 21-year-old man from Toronto and an 18-year-old man from Brampton, who was a young person at the time of the shooting. They were arrested on Dec. 30, police say.

Toronto police have already arrested two others in connection with the case, ages 19 and 16. They were arrested in late 2023 and early 2024, and both face charges of first-degree murder. The 16-year-old is also charged with attempted murder.

Price told reporters Thursday that with last month's arrests, police believe they now have all four shooters in custody.

At approximately 11:15 p.m. on Sept. 24, 2023, Bernard-Reis parked his car in the driveway of his residence on Danzig Street, near Morningside and Lawrence avenues, Price said. He was with another person at the time, Price said, and had just finished helping a family member move.

Four suspects with handguns then opened fire from across the street, Price said. Bernard-Reis was wounded, while the other victim escaped injury, he said. 

The suspects then fled in a stolen vehicle, Price said.

Authorities later found Bernard-Reis and rushed him to hospital, where he died two weeks later.

The motivation behind the shooting remains a mystery, Price said. Bernard-Reis had no criminal associations and did not appear to have any connection to the shooters, he said.

Price said the accused had affiliations to gangs in the city, something Danzig Street has had issues with in the past.

"There's a high likelihood that this was a situation where it was a message to the street or something like that, because there's no reason why these two individuals would have been targeted themselves," Price said. 

The two new accused appeared in court on Dec. 31. The allegations against all four accused have yet to be tested in court.