Two more arrested in high-profile Toronto shooting, including suspect from Pickering

A Pickering woman has been arrested in connection to the daytime shooting of a woman in Toronto’s east end last month.

According to Toronto police, three men got into a fight in Toronto’s east-end Leslieville neighbourhood around noon on July 7. Two of the men were armed with pistols and fired at each other. A stray bullet struck a woman, later identified as Karolina Huebner-Makurat, 44, of Toronto, who happened to be walking by. The men then ran from the area.

First responders soon arrived and rushed Huebner-Makurat to a trauma centre, where she succumbed to her injuries. Toronto Police searched for the men for several days. On July 13, they announced the arrest of a suspect, Damian Hudson, 32, of Toronto. He is facing a second-degree murder charge.

He appeared in court later that day.

Court documents show Hudson has a history of violence, including convictions for aggravated assault, assault, robberies, and firearms offences. He served 15 months in prison after stabbing a man in the heart. He was on bail at the time of the Leslieville shooting.

A month later, on Aug. 14, police arrested Ahmed Mustafa Ibrahim, 20, of Toronto, on charges of manslaughter, robbery, and breaching probation.

A third suspect in the shootout is still at large. Police describe him as an 18 to 25-year-old man of average height and a slim build and long hair in a ponytail. He was seen wearing a black baseball hat, a black North Face hoodie, dark-coloured jeans and white shoes.

During their investigation, police arrested Khalila Zara Mohammed, 23, of Pickering. She’s been charged with being an accessory after the fact and obstruction of justice. Both Mohammed and Ibrahim.

Media reports indicate Mohammed worked at a nearby South Riverdale Community Health Centre, which operates a safe drug-consumption site. Sites like this test drug users’ drugs to ensure they are not contaminated and provide care in the event of an overdose. However, police have not connected the shooting with the clinic.

That said, some local residents believe the site has decreased neighbourhood safety. Resident and safe consumption site opponent Jeri Brown told the Canadian Press, “We see drug deals, we see people shooting up drugs in the laneways behind our houses, we find drug accessories all over the streets.” Brown leads a contingent of neighbours opposed to the site.

Others disagree, including ten-year resident Kimberley Radmacher who told CP, “My experience has been there’s been less types of activities that most of us don’t like, like needles in parks,” and that she hoped the community can discuss these issues “without having to vilify the people that are needing a service that saves their lives.”

With files from the Canadian Press.