Toronto Man Wanted On Canada-wide Warrant For Murder Arrested In ...

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A man wanted on a countrywide warrant for first-degree murder has been arrested in the death of another man — not in Canada but on the Caribbean island of Aruba, CBC Toronto has learned.

Sources say Michael Teddy Gibson, 30, was arrested on May 3 in Aruba, where he now stands accused in the killing of a separate Toronto man on the island, Thuy Hoang Nguyen Quach.

Local media in Aruba showed photos of Gibson being arrested in a dramatic take-down after a car accident that followed a police chase. Two other men and two women were also arrested, CBC Toronto has learned.

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Both Quach and Gibson come from Regent Park in Toronto and the pair knew one another, a source in the community told CBC Toronto, although the nature of their relationship is unclear.

CBC Toronto could not reach police in Aruba for more details about the investigation into Quach's death on Monday.

Countrywide manhunt

Gibson, however, became the subject of a manhunt in Toronto after the shooting death of Julian Weekes on April 2, 2016, outside Fuse Bar in the area of Queen and Parliament streets. The 27-year-old was attending a memorial that night for his friend Ceyon Carrington, who had himself been shot and killed a month earlier in Leslieville.

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Police found Weekes by following a bloody trail he left from the shooting scene to a gas station, where he was unconscious with multiple gunshot wounds.

Investigators said Weekes made his way to the gas station on foot, knocking frantically on passing car doors for help. None stopped, police said at the time.

'Lengthy' criminal record

Just over a week later, police identified Gibson, also known as Tyke, as the sole suspect in the homicide, describing him as having a "lengthy" criminal record and imploring him to turn himself in.

At the time, Toronto police Det.-Sgt. Michael Patterson said Weekes and Gibson knew one another and that "it would appear that Weekes did not feel Gibson was a threat" on the night of the shooting. Both lived in the Regent Park neighbourhood.

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"Michael, this is a message directly to you. Do the right thing. Speak to your lawyer and turn yourself in to the nearest police station," Patterson said in an appeal to Gibson then.

Gibson, who is believed to be associated with the Sic Thugs gang as well as the Asian Assassins in Toronto, became the subject of a Canada-wide manhunt with RCMP describing him as having "connections throughout the western hemisphere."

Last month, homicide investigators reiterated their plea for information leading to Gibson's arrest, saying there was a good chance he'd fled the country.

New murder charges, this time in Aruba

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He had.

But just how Gibson managed to leave Canada while being the subject of a warrant by the RCMP is not clear.

"When an individual is leaving Canada by air, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) does not play a role in their exit," the agency told CBC Toronto.

That's unlike when someone leaves by land — Canada and the United States exchange information on "third country" nationals (non U.S. or Canadian citizens), Canadian permanent residents who aren't U.S. citizens, and U.S. permanent residents who aren't Canadian citizens.

No information is shared on Canadian citizens, the CBSA said.

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But that could soon change.

Last June, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale tabled Bill C-21, proposing legislation that would allow Canada to know when and where someone both enters and leaves the country.

Members of Gibson's family are known to police, Toronto police Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook said — some of whom are alleged to have ties to various city street gangs.

In November, a relative of Gibson's, Marcus Gibson, was gunned down at a Riverdale community housing building.

Marcus Gibson had been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the Garden Restaurant murder in the Dundas Street and University Avenue area, along with Carrington, a father, who friends remembered as an older-brother figure "always laughing, helping out the kids."

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Months later, the prosecution withdrew the charges against the two.

Both are now dead.

Global Affairs would not confirm Gibson's identity or Quach's, saying only that they are aware that a Canadian citizen is detained in Aruba and that consular service is being provided to the family of the deceased.

A GoFundMe page for Quach says the family's "last wish is for everyone to be able to say their last 'goodbyes' here with us in Canada."

The page has raised over $16,000 since being created Saturday.

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