Three men face 50-plus charges in connection to Dec. 2020 shooting
Posted July 15, 2021 11:35 am.
Three Toronto men face more than 50 charges in connection with shooting that took place in the downtown area last December.
Police say on December 12, 2020, just after 4 a.m., a woman was discovered suffering from gunshot wounds in the area of Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue. The woman was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and survived.
At the time police issued an arrest warrant for Rowan Atkins in connection with the shooting.
Atkins, who is allegedly part of a gang based in Toronto’s Alexandra Park neighbouhood, once had an arrest warrant issued in his name in August 2020 for allegedly counselling his 3,000 Instagram followers to “shoot everyone in Regent Park.” Then, in an October 2020 video posted under his rapper stage name “Rolexx Homi,” he appears to seek revenge for the deadly shooting of fellow rapper and gang member Dimarjio Jenkins “Houdini,” while calling out several other gangs and neighbourhoods.
On Monday, members of the Guns and Gang Task Force were set to execute a search warrant at a Toronto address when they say three men were arrested in a car prior to the search.
Police say they later recovered two Glock 9mm pistols with over-capacity extended magazines including a drum magazine, ammunition and a quantity of drugs.
Atkins was among the three arrested and he now faces a total of 30 charges including assault, attempted murder and numerous firearms offences.
Jordan Mendez, 28, of Toronto is facing 11 firearms-related charges. He was being sought on a Canada-wide warrant for breaching his parole while serving a two-year sentence for manslaughter.
Keante Gayle-Johnson, 23, of Toronto is facing a total of 13 charges, most of them firearms related as well.
All three men have been remanded into custody, pending a special bail hearing in the near future.
