From several reported incidents of rocks being thrown at moving vehicles to carjackings caught on camera, here are 11 crimes that took Toronto and the GTA by surprise in 2024.
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Baby dies after 'suspicious incident' On Nov. 20, Toronto police confirmed a four-month-old baby had died following a 'suspicious incident' at a Toronto Community Housing building in midtown. Toronto police first charged his mother with failing to provide the necessaries of life, but later upgraded her charges to second-degree murder following the results of an autopsy. (CTV News Toronto/Janice Golding)
Brampton shooting In December, a video surfaced revealing the moments leading up to a fatal shooting outside of a Brampton home late on Dec. 4. In the video, two people appeared to be in the middle of clearing snow off their car in the driveway when a white four-door sedan pulled up to the home and came to a stop. One of the vehicle's doors flings open before a shooter opens fire, where flashes of bright light appear on camera with every shot fired. The footage goes on to show two people getting out of the sedan. In total, about 20 shots are fired. One of the two victims died in what Peel Regional Police said was a 'targeted' shooting. (X/@Preeda6ix)
Drake Mansion shooting A security guard who was working at Drake's Bridle Path mansion in May sustained critical injuries following a shooting one early morning in May. Officers could not say whether or not Drake was home at the time. The incident came after Drake and Kendrick Lamar's feud reached its boiling point, days after the two hip-hop magnates released a series of diss tracks that spewed a litany of allegations against one another. (CTV News Toronto)
Porsche theft In September, police west of Toronto released video of a brazen daylight Porsche theft. "Hello, I'm here for the Porsche," the suspect is heard saying in the video, referring to the 2022 Porsche Cayenne parked in the driveway, listed for sale on AutoTrader. At one point, the victim tries to get inside the vehicle before making his way to the vehicle's rear, which is when the suspect floors the gas pedal and reverses the Porsche onto the stream. The victim is seen carried along with the vehicle and appears to be run over by one of the back wheels. A few days later, the woman in the video was arrested and police laid auto theft charges against her.
TTC bus crash A total of nine people were injured after a stolen BMW crashed into a TTC bus in North York early morning on Nov. 18. Duty Insp. Brian Maslowski said attending officers found the BMW in flames, and the occupants needed to be extricated by Toronto firefighters. (CP24/Courtney Heels)
Richmond Hill cinema Two people were caught on camera using Molotov cocktails to start a fire inside of a Richmond Hill cinema, while movie-goers were still inside the theatre. In footage released by York Regional Police, two suspects can be seen pulling up to the theatre in a grey SUV before walking into its lobby on Nov. 3. Though there were people inside, police said there were no reported injuries. (York Regional Police)
Rock thrown at vehicle Markham saw several incidents this past fall where rocks were thrown at moving vehicles. Police released footage of one incident on Sept. 20, where a vehicle can be seen speeding through a red light and crashing into another vehicle. Investigators believe a rock was thrown at the driver from the opposite lane of traffic, causing them to lose consciousness sometime before the collision. The crash critically injured two people. (Ontario Provincial Police)
Tow truck shooting CTV News Toronto obtained two videos of shootings involving tow trucks in May, where bullets could be seen fired striking trucks. In one instance, surveillance videos show a pick-up truck, plastered with a tow company's decals, slow to a stop in the middle of an intersection at Markham Road and Munham Gate before the driver exited the vehicle, wounded. In another dash cam video, the window of a passing black Honda civic can be seen rolling down before several shots are heard, prompting the driver to brake and radio for help. "Yo, someone shot my truck," the driver can be heard saying. The videos were part of a turf war in the industry, as players fought over lucrative tow fees, repair and storage charges. (CTV News Toronto)
Highway 401 gun pointing A man was seen pointing a gun at oncoming traffic on Highway 401 in Mississauga early one morning in November. In a dash cam footage provided to CP24, a man in a grey hoodie can be seen in live lanes of traffic, approaching vehicles and appearing to point a gun at them. Toronto police arrested a man that same week in connection with the incident, after he allegedly committed 'multiple attempted carjackings and shootings' in the city's east end, including one that left a man critically injured. (Supplied)
Richmond Hill warehouse More than a dozen suspects armed with hammers and electric saws were caught on camera breaking into a warehouse in Richmond Hill early morning on April 1. (York Regional Police)
Ryan James Wedding Ryan Wedding, who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics, is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of a couple in Caledon, Ont., in 2023, according to authorities. Wedding is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries. Wedding is one of 16 defendants listed in a U.S. indictment unsealed in October, with nine other Canadians accused of taking part in the network that allegedly trafficked 1,800 kilograms of cocaine across Colombia, Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. The former Olympian is the lead defendant in the indictment and wanted on eight charges, including three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise. (FBI)
