New details released in shooting
Cops say Tyrone Bracken was seen with group of two to four males before his murder
Police have released more details into the shooting death of 16 year old Tyrone Bracken who was killed in the stairwell of a Lawrence Heights building on Nov. 17.
Detective John Biggerstaff said police are still determining some details and are looking for people to come forward.
“Sometime before his death he was engaged with potentially two to four other males of varying descriptions,” Biggerstaff said. “There’s no fighting, then there’s calls to 911 and he’s found dead in the stairwell on the ground floor.”
Biggerstaff said witnesses claim Bracken was with the group inside 135 Neptune Dr. and was seen with them “mere minutes to within an hour before his death.” He added that at this point, those individuals are being considered persons of interest.
“There’s nothing that tells us that they’re the ones that committed the murder,” Biggerstaff said. “But certainly they must have some knowledge that can explain or account for his whereabouts shortly before his death.”
Within hours of the murder, friends had already started an in memoriam page on Facebook, with one member saying “People need to STOP THE VIOLENCE.”
That violence of course, refers to the recent surge in gun-related incidents in the Lawrence Heights neighbourhood dating back to a murder in late August that was just a few blocks south of Neptune Drive.
Since that murder, there had been at least six gun-related incidents in the span of about a month and a half, from woundings to arrests for possession of a loaded weapon.
While police have acknowledged that some of the previous incidents are connected to each other, Biggerstaff said Bracken’s murder seems to be an isolated case.
“At this point in time, I don’t see any connection,” he said. “There have been a number of incidents geographically, and this one on the surface doesn’t appear to be associated with any of those events.”
However, Biggerstaff did say that Bracken appeared to be the target of the shooter.
“I don’t think it’s a random act,” he said. “(Bracken) never fled the area, he was present, he was visible — so somebody has come upon him and for some reason shot him.
“The biggest problem is we don’t know an awful lot right now,” Biggerstaff added.
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