Toronto police say two teenage gang members were kidnapped and tortured in retaliation for a condo shootout.
TORONTO POLICE SERVICE HANDOUT Police are searching for Lincoln Anthony Richards, 23 and Thai-Shay Gordon, 17, wanted in connection with an Apr. 19 kidnapping and beating.
Now three young men have been charged and two more are wanted.
Investigators say that, in the early hours of April 19, members of the Young Buck Killers gang were partying in an Airbnb-rented condo on the 25th floor of a building near Front St. and Blue Jays Way.
The revellers heard that members of a rival gang, the Queens Drive Crips, were going to show up uninvited.
Four Young Bucks went downstairs to look for the gatecrashers.
When they came back upstairs, the Queen Drive Crips were waiting for them in the hallway.
Security footage shows the gang members opening fire as the elevator doors open. Police do not believe anyone was seriously injured in the shootout.
Later on April 19, two 17-year-olds involved with the Queens Drive Crips were kidnapped when they arrived at a Swansea Mews townhouse complex that police say is associated with the Young Buck Killers.
In a news conference Thursday, Staff Inspector Mike Earl said police believe the kidnapping was in retaliation for the condo ambush.
“I wouldn’t call this an ‘innocent stranger’ kidnapping,” Earl said. “This is basically a gang-war kidnapping.”
The two boys were tied to chairs and beaten, threatened with a gun, and forced to play Russian Roulette with a loaded handgun.
At one point a shot was fired on the property.
Police were called to the area twice during this time on reports of suspicious activity, but they were not able to find anything.
After police showed up in the area, the kidnappers moved the boys to locations in the Flemingdon Park and Lawrence Heights neighbourhoods.
Earl said they were tied to chairs again and beaten throughout the day. It is also alleged that they were forced to perform sexual acts.
Ransom demands were made to the boys’ families.
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