Toronto police have identified one of the three suspects in Thursday’s Bridle Path home invasion as a 23-year-old suffering from an accidental gunshot wound, who remains at large despite officers interacting with him in hospital in the aftermath of the high-profile attack.
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officers → identify → attack
“The suspect was discharged from the hospital early in the afternoon yesterday,” Inspector Kristy Smith of the Toronto Police Hold-Up Squad told reporters Saturday morning.
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Smith → discharge → reporters
She said police had approached the man while he was getting treatment for his wounds, apparently accidentally inflicted by a fellow attacker, earlier this week.
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he → say → attacker
But detectives working the case did not initially have evidence to arrest him.
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detectives → work → him
Insp. Smith said police developed that evidence Friday evening, hours after the suspect’s release from hospital.
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police → say → hospital
The suspect has been identified as Daijohn Richards, 23, of Toronto.
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suspect → identify → Toronto
Described as armed and dangerous, he now is wanted by authorities on four counts of discharge firearm with intent to wound, four counts of robbery with a firearm, three counts of aggravated assault and other charges.
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he → describe → assault
The other suspects have not been identified and police would not say whether Mr. Richards has faced prior criminal charges.
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Richards → identify → charges
The rare home invasion in Toronto’s exclusive Bridle Path neighbourhood left three members of a family of four suffering from gunshot wounds.
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invasion → leave → wounds
Some family members remain hospitalized, Insp. Smith said on Saturday.
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Smith → remain → Saturday
“Some of them have been released from hospital and some of them are still in hospital,” she said.
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she → release → hospital
“What I can say is that, through the grace of God, they are in life-altering condition and not life-threatening condition.”
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they → say → condition
Toronto police said earlier this week that early Thursday, three masked gunmen stormed into the Hyde Park Circle house through its back entrance while a family of four was sleeping inside.
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family → say → four
Around 3 a.m., a confrontation erupted as the assailants demanded valuables and fired guns.
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assailants → erupt → guns
Authorities have said that each suspect was armed with a handgun.
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suspect → say → handgun
He released a statement on Friday thanking the public for its support but said the violence traumatized his family.
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violence → release → family
“What should have been the safety and security of our own home became a terrifying and life-threatening experience,” Mr. Morton, chief executive of the MAC Group, said in the statement.
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Morton → become → statement
“It is difficult to put into words the trauma of experiencing something so horrific in the one place where everyone should feel safest: their own home.”
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everyone → put → place
The family is asking for privacy.
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family → ask → privacy
The other victims include his wife, Doriana Zohil-Morton, 64, and the couple’s two adult daughters, Cristina and Maggie Zohil-Morton.
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victims → include → wife
Police also now believe that one of the alleged attackers – Mr. Richards – may have been accidentally hit by bullets fired by a fellow assailant.
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one → believe → assailant
They are telling the public he is armed, dangerous and visibly wounded in his shoulder.
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he → tell → shoulder
“We have identified one of the suspects involved in this home invasion shooting and we are asking for the public’s collective assistance in locating him,” Insp. Smith told reporters at a police station Saturday morning.
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Smith → identify → station
“We believe that he was accidentally shot by one of the other suspects in this home invasion,” she said.
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she → believe → invasion
“Richards was shot in the right shoulder and as such he may be experiencing pain and discomfort in that area and people may see him favouring that side of his body
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him → shoot → body
She said police are accusing him of striking fear into a family inside their home and subjecting them to “an appalling level of violence, all for the purpose of acquiring property.”
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police → say → property
Insp. Smith said police in Toronto have protocols to speak to people who come to the city’s emergency rooms seeking treatment for gunshots.
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who → say → gunshots
But there are legal limitations on what authorities can do before detaining or questioning anyone.
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authorities → be → anyone
“The suspect walked in on his own to the hospital.
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suspect → walk → hospital
There is an agreement in place that we get notified when gunshot victims show up at a hospital.
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victims → be → hospital
So acting on that protocol, police were called,” Insp. Smith said.
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Smith → act → protocol
She added that “police attended the hospital and we conducted a number of interactions with this male prior to him being released from the hospital,” she said.
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she → add → hospital
But authorities could not immediately form reasonable grounds for any arrest.
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authorities → form → arrest
The Hold-Up squad developed evidence on Friday night with help from forensic scientists and police doing detective work, she said.
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she → hold → work
But by then, the suspect was gone from hospital.
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suspect → go → hospital
The Aporia
