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Toronto man wanted for attempted murder was convicted in mass Danzig shooting
A Toronto man wanted for attempted murder in a stabbing last week is the same man convicted in relation to a high-profile mass shooting in 2012, Global News has learned.
Toronto police said Wednesday they are looking for 31-year-old Shaquan Mesquito in connection with a downtown stabbing on July 11 at Yonge and Dundas streets. Officers found a 30-year-old man who had been stabbed and was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Mesquito is wanted for attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
He is the same man who was convicted in a brazen mass shooting at a block party barbecue outside a public housing complex on Danzig Street on July 16, 2012. He was known as Shaquan “Bam Bam” Mesquito and was 18 at the time of the shooting.
According to police at the time, several members of the Galloway Boys gang attended the community barbeque in Scarborough and “took ownership” of it. Violence erupted after a squabble between members of the Galloway Boys and their traditional rivals from the Malvern area of Toronto.
The chaotic shoutout killed two people — 23-year-old Joshua Yasay and 14-year-old Shyanne Charles — and left 23 people injured.
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The Danzig shooting has been known as one of the worst in Toronto’s history.
The incident was called an “unprecedented” episode of violence by Toronto police, and stunned the country and rocked the community to its core.
Back in 2012, Mesquito was initially charged with uttering threats when he was arrested shortly after the shooting in July. Then, in November 2012, the charges were later upgraded to include two counts of first degree murder, one count of attempted murder, 23 counts aggravated assault and one count of reckless discharge of a firearm.
However, in January 2015, Crown lawyers dropped several charges against Mesquito, who was 21 years old at that time.
The Crown withdrew two murder charges, one count of attempted murder, reckless discharge of a firearm and 23 counts of aggravated assault.
Mesquito pleaded guilty to four new, lesser charges including counselling two people “to commit the indictable offence of murder which offence was not committed,” as well as uttering threats and illegal firearm possession.
There was not enough evidence to link Mesquito directly to the murders. In an agreed statement of facts, Mesquito was angered after being kicked out of the party and attempted to recruit others to come back and take revenge. After the shooting, he bragged about it online but investigators found a security video that placed him far away from Danzig.
He was handed a nine-year prison term sentence in 2015, that included time served in pre-trial custody.
Police are asking anyone with information or who sees Mesquito to contact them immediately.
“He is considered dangerous and should not be approached,” police said on Wednesday.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Ontario’s solicitor general says the province is adding 150 beds to three jails across the province using modular construction.
Michael Kerzner made the announcement Thursday at the Niagara Detention Centre, which will expand by 50 spaces, as will the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, and the Cecil Facer Youth Centre in Sudbury, which is also being converted to an adult facility.
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Construction is expected to begin next year and cost the province more than $180 million.
The announcement comes not long after the province’s ombudsman raised concerns about an overcrowding “crisis” in Ontario’s correctional facilities, saying some are operating at more than 150 per cent of their capacity, compromising safety for inmates and staff alike.
Premier Doug Ford has also recently been pushing the federal government for stricter bail laws and urging judges and justices of the peace not to let violent, repeat offenders out on bail when they are charged with a new crime.
Provincial jails hold people accused of a crime but not out on bail, as well as those serving sentences of two years less a day, but the vast majority fit into the first category and have not been convicted.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
A driving instructor may need to go back to school after he was recently pulled over on route to work while under “the warn range,” according to police in Thunder Bay.
In a social media post on Wednesday, police said that a traffic officer pulled a car over at 9:40 a.m. after the person behind he wheel was allegedly driving without their seatbelt while talking on a cell phone.
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“Bad yes, but things get worse,” the post went on to say.
“The officer detected an alcoholic beverage on his breath, and a roadside breath sample was taken.”
Police said the sample came back in the ‘warn range’ of 50-80 mg alcohol, which meant the driver receieved a three-day licence suspension.
According to Ontario’s website, the warn range is when someone has a blood alcohol concentration between 0.05-0.079 and requires an immediate three-day suspension and a $250 fine for first-time offenders.
If someone has a blood alcohol concentration over .08, they are considered impaired and the penalties increase.
The driving instructor was also ticketed for using a cellphone and not wearing a seatbelt.
“He will not be conducting any driving lessons today,” the post concluded.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Daytime temperatures from Windsor, Ontario, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, are going to remain hot a little longer.
Environment Canada has several heat warnings in effect this morning, along a 2,400-kilometre stretch of southeastern Canada.
The warnings forecast daytime highs in some areas between 31 and 34 degrees Celsius — with a humidex of 37 to 42.
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As with any heat warning, it is recommended that people watch for the early signs of heat exhaustion and check in with vulnerable family and friends to ensure their well-being.
For residents in Southern Ontario and southern Quebec, the heat wave is expected to start cooling off later today or this evening, while farther east the warmer weather will likely linger into Friday.
There was also one heat warning posted for the Northwest Territories — in the Hay River region — with highs forecast to reach 28 to 31.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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