Mother loses third child, Jamal Roache, to gun violence
Content warning: video contains graphic violence
Police have released security camera footage of Jamal Roache, 26, a business student at George Brown College (GBC), being gunned down in North York on Oct. 30.
At 11:39 p.m. Roache was shot at a strip mall in the Keele Street and Wycombe area. Suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, he was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
Police have said this was a targeted ambush.
“We went to Central Technical High School together, and after we graduated, I would see him around from time to time,” said Ricardo Brown, GBC student, and Huskies basketball player. “He was a good guy and very funny. He had some trouble with the law before, but he was a genuine person. Kept his word and had some big dreams.”
According to the Toronto Star, Jamal was the last of youngest of three children who have died from gun violence. His sister Chemere, was 18 when she was shot in the head in March 2002 while leaving a nightclub with her boyfriend, who was the intended target.
Nine months later, his older brother Yannick, who was 18, was shot from behind while helping his girlfriend’s toddler; he was known to police who said at the time that he was targeted.
“He was a good kid,” said Tina Khan, one of Jamal’s teachers at Central Tech. “He was always polite and jovial, he got along with the students and teachers. I never saw him without a big grin, he was always happy.”
Their mother Carol Roache described Jamal as an intelligent and ambitious man who enrolled in business at GBC with plans to launch a new smartphone app, according to the Toronto Star.
“He was known to police, having said that, nobody deserves to die like that,” said homicide detective sergeant Steve Ryan at a press conference on Nov. 1. “Nobody deserves to be gunned down or stalked on our streets.”
Police are appealing to anyone who may have information to contact police at 416-808-7400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.222tips.com.
