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Police are looking for two teenagers wanted on Canada-wide warrants in connection with fatal, “brazen daylight” shootings that took place in Vaughan and Etobicoke earlier this year.
Richmond Hill resident Sergio Lopes, 65, was killed on Jan. 26 in a Vaughan commercial plaza, while Brampton resident Chandan Kumar Raja Nandakumar, 37, was killed less than two weeks later at the Woodbine shopping centre.
Now, police say Isaiah Thomas Badger, 19, is wanted for first-degree murder in connection with both shootings, while Jacob Wallace, 19, is wanted for first-degree murder in connection with Lopes’s death in Vaughan.
The men are considered armed and dangerous, York Region police say.
“It’s shocking to me that we’re standing here with two 19-year-olds wanted for first-degree murder,” said York police Det. Jonathan Nauman during a joint news conference with Toronto police on Tuesday.
Shootings were targeted, police say
Lopes was shot multiple times on Jan. 26 as he was exiting his business in a commercial plaza in Vaughan around 1:08 p.m., Nauman said.
“Mr. Lopez was a respected member of his community, a loving father and husband,” he said. “His loss was deeply felt.”
Nandakumar died after being shot while seated in his car in the parking lot of Woodbine Shopping Centre on Feb. 7 around 3:26 p.m., Toronto police Det. Sandra Arruda said.
“Those who knew him described him as kind, generous, and always willing to help others,” he said. “He maintained strong connections with others in the GTA.”
Police believe the shootings were targeted.
“We don’t have a motive, our connection to both homicides seems to only be that we share the same suspect,” said Arruda, noting that in both shootings stolen vehicles were used.
Anyone with information is being asked to contact Toronto police or Crime Stoppers.