Remember this shooting?
Police name suspect in Leonard Pinnock shooting
Akil Whyte sought on a charge of first-degree murder
Police name suspect in Leonard Pinnock shooting | Toronto Star
Toronto police have identified a suspect who they believe is one of two gunmen seen in surveillance video of an April shooting death.
Leonard Pinnock, 33, of Hamilton, was shot dead as he sat in his car in a parking lot at Dufferin St. and Bowie Ave. on the night of April 21.
At a news conference Monday, investigators said they think one of the men seen in the video is Akil Whyte, 24, of Toronto.
Whyte is now wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for first-degree murder.
“Every police officer in the City of Toronto has your photograph,” homicide squad Det.-Sgt. Joyce Schertzer told the news conference, urging Whyte to hire a lawyer and turn himself in.
“It’s only a matter of time before you are apprehended.”
Whyte is also wanted on a charge of conspiring to traffic cocaine. That charge stems from Project Kronic, a series of raids in June across 20 police jurisdictions in Ontario which targeted an alleged street gang called the Driftwood Crips.
After the Project Kronic raids, 120 people were charged with more than 660 offences related to drugs, firearm trafficking, kidnapping conspiracies and attempted murders.
Police attempts to find Whyte have been unsuccessful so far. Schertzer said investigators believe those close to Whyte know where he is, and urged anyone who may be helping him to come forward.
Whyte is from Toronto and has family here, said Schertzer.
“If anyone is considering offering Akil Whyte assistance in evading arrest, I would caution them that there are criminal consequences to offering him aid in that regard,” she said.
On the night he died, Pinnock was in Toronto after giving a friend a ride to Dufferin St. and Bowie Ave., in the Fairbank area.
As Pinnock sat on the driver’s side of his car, two gunmen ran up and fired as many as 10 bullets at him before dashing away. The attack appeared to be “choreographed,” Schertzer said in May.
Pinnock worked as a courier, cut hair and DJed under the name ‘Champ Juve.’ He was the father of a young daughter.
Schertzer said police couldn’t find anything in Pinnock’s background to suggest a motive, and investigators weren’t ruling out the possibility that the Hamilton man was mistaken for someone else.
On Monday, Schertzer wouldn’t answer questions about Pinnock’s friend. “I do know his friend and we’re going to leave it at that,” she said.
In May, Toronto
police released a video of the shooting in the hopes of identifying the two gunmen. They haven’t yet identified the second man, who wearing a darker-coloured hoodie than the person who police allege is Whyte.
In June, a resident of a home on Bowie Ave. nearby found a 9mm semi-automatic handgun in his backyard that police said may have been used in the shooting. The homeowner also found a black Nike hoodie and Gucci bag, which police also said they believe is related.
Schertzer told media the gun looked decrepit, but was fully functional, as the homeowner found out when he accidentally fired it. No one was hurt, and police said they were checking the gun for fingerprints.
Schertzer said she believes Whyte is armed and dangerous.
“We’re anxious to learn his whereabouts,” she said. “If I had any idea where he was, I’d be there myself to apprehend him.”
you already know what they'd say ....ie:"victim was known to police....may be gang related...etc"
