Toronto police have identified one of three suspects in a violent home invasion in the city’s affluent Bridle Path neighbourhood, issuing a Canada-wide arrest warrant while continuing to search for the other two.
The suspect, Daijohn Richards, 23, sustained a gunshot wound after being accidentally shot by one of the other suspects. He later went to a hospital, where police interacted with him. Although they suspected a possible connection between Richards and the home invasion, they did not arrest him at the time, saying they lacked sufficient evidence.
The Oct. 29 home invasion resulted in gunshot wounds to homeowner David Morton, a local businessman, and his two daughters, while his wife was attacked with a hammer.
“Three victims, a 75-year-old male, a 26-year-old female, and a 28-year-old female, sustained gunshot wounds … the male as well as a fourth victim, a 64-year-old female, were struck with a hammer.”
Police say the suspects fled the area in a dark-coloured SUV.
“Richards was shot in the right shoulder, and as such, he may be experiencing pain or discomfort in that area, and people may look to see him favoring that side of his body,” Insp. Kristy Smith said during a news conference on Oct. 31.
Another photo of the suspect, Daijohn Richards, provided by the Toronto Police. (Handout/Toronto Police Service)Home Invasion
The incident took place in the early morning hours of Oct. 29. Police responded to a call for a shooting at the residence, located in the area of Post Road and Hyde Park Circle, at approximately 3:40 a.m.
After breaking into the home, the suspects went to the second floor and made a demand for personal valuables, before an altercation took place with the four victims, police say.
Smith confirmed to reporters that police had responded to a hospital where Richards went to receive treatment for a gunshot wound.
Asked by a reporter why police did not arrest Richards at the hospital, Smith said police need reasonable grounds before an arrest can be made.
“When someone walks into a hospital, there’s a lot of things that need to happen in the period of time from when we become aware of them, to us forming the reasonable grounds that we need to make an arrest and link that person to the crime of this home invasion,” she said.
“What we need to make sure is that we [have] an ironclad conviction, and we don’t just go off of suspicion.”
Smith said the attack does not appear to have been targeted, and that police believe the motive was “people wanting things and entering into an area of affluence where there are things that are sought after.”
Smith said that some of the victims had already been released from hospital, and that those still in hospital were “in life-altering condition and not life-threatening condition.”
Victim Issues Statement
Morton issued a statement about the home invasion on Oct. 30.
“What should have been the safety and security of our own home became a terrifying and life-threatening experience,” Morton wrote.
“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.”
Morton also expressed concern about the rise in home invasions in Toronto.
“No family should ever have to experience this. People should be able to sleep peacefully in their homes without fear of armed individuals breaking in and threatening their lives,” he said.
