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Four additional people were charged today by Hamilton police in connection with the Nov. 30, 2013 murder of McMaster student Tyler Johnson.

The arrests followed raids of three Hamilton residences. Police have charged Hamiltonians Chad Davidson, 34, and Joshua Barreira, 25, with first degree murder. Police have yet to publicly identify two others, a man and a woman, who have been charged with being accessories after the fact.

These arrests took place several months after the initial arrest of 19-year-old Brandon Barreira on Dec. 11, 2013, who was charged with first degree murder.

Johnson, a 30-year-old fourth year engineering student, was shot in the chest in the early hours of Nov. 30 following an altercation outside of Vida La Pita and Tim Hortons on King Street West near Hess Village.

More to come.

 

In an effort to identify more suspects connected to the Nov. 30 murder of McMaster student Tyler Johnson, Hamilton police have released a series of surveillance camera videos and have appealed to the public to name the men caught on camera.

All of the footage is from the area around Tim Hortons and Vida La Pita on King Street West in between Caroline Street and Hess Street.

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In this video, police are “looking to identify two suspects described as white males walking in the video, one white male wearing a blue jacket and red hoody, second white male wearing a black hoody jacket.”

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In this video, police are trying to identify "the two persons described as white males walking out the door, one white male wearing a white shirt, dark colored vest and baseball hat is considered a suspect, the second white male is a person of interest and wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and white shoes."

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In this third video, police need to identify "the suspect walking through the door wearing the white shirt, dark colored vest, baseball hat, blue jeans and dark colored footwear."

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In this last video, police are looking to identify "a person of interest at the cash counter described as a white male with black short hair, wearing a Puma shirt, a black jacket with the lettering GRRC on the back, blue jeans and white shoes."

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Only one arrest has been made so far in connection with the early morning shooting and slaying of Johnson. Brandon Barreira, 19, has been charged with first-degree murder and more arrests are expected as police search for further suspects.

Anyone with information about the suspects and persons of interest in the above videos is urged to make contact with Detective Jason Cattle of the homicide unit at 905-546-4123 or to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

 

 

 

Last updated: Dec. 5

In the early hours of the morning on Saturday, Nov. 30,  McMaster student Tyler Johnson was shot during an altercation on King Street West and died on the scene from his gunshot wounds.

Johnson, aged 30, was a fourth-year mechanical engineering student planning to pursue his Masters at McMaster next year. At approximately 3 a.m. on Saturday morning, Johnson was involved in an incident between two groups of men outside of Vida La Pita restaurant near the corner of King Street West and Caroline Street, one block east of Hess Village, Hamilton's popular bar district.

Hamilton police detective Paul Hamilton said in a news release that the conflict occurring between the two groups, "quickly escalated when one man produced a handgun and shot the victim."

Johnson's body was found in the nearby Tim Hortons parking lot and was pronounced dead at Hamilton General Hospital. This is the second homicide in a two month period for this parking lot on King Street West. On Sept. 15, David Pereira, 18, was stabbed to death at 2:30 a.m. Raleigh Stubbs, 49, has been charged with his murder.

Ishwar Puri, Dean of Engineering, spoke on behalf of McMaster regarding the tragedy. "The University is expressing its condolences to the family and friends of Tyler. Of course, this will be upsetting news for those who studied with Tyler, those who many have taught him and known him," he said.

Details about the circumstances leading to Johnson's death and those responsible remain sparse.  Police are interviewing witnesses at this time and urge anyone with information to make contact with Detective Jason Cattle of the homicide unit at 905-546-4123 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Johnson's family is holding a visitation at the Marlatt Funeral Home at 615 Main St. East on Thursday, Dec. 5, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The funeral service will be held in the same location on Friday, Dec. 6, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

Grief counselling is being offered to students at the Student Wellness Centre in McMaster University Student Centre room B101. Appointments can be made at the Centre or by calling 905-525-9140 x27700.

 

Westdale's Mexican take-out restaurant closes its doors

It had pulled pork, rice, beans, lettuce, lots of tomato, green peppers, cheese, salsa and guacamole. For Noah Ciglen, it wasn’t just a burrito. It was end of an era.

Ciglen, a fourth-year Arts & Science student, had the “sad honour” of purchasing the last burrito from Jimmy Gringo’s Burrito Factory, a favourite student haunt at King and Marion in Westdale, before it closed for good on Jan. 26.

“I had heard before winter break that Jimmy’s was closing, but I had no idea when,” he said. “Then I read on Twitter that it was closing that day and I thought … that I was going to regret it if I never had another burrito from them.”

Although students and local residents alike frequented the takeout restaurant, co-owner Ewan MacLachlan said that operating the business has not been an easy time.

“We’ve been open five years, and it’s been a fight since day one,” he said.

“I chose a location in Westdale because I wanted to cater to students and I liked the village atmosphere … but some of the locals didn’t like us.”

The restaurant operated as a takeout eatery only, but that wasn’t MacLachlan’s original plan for it. His initial vision was of a restaurant with seating, an outdoor patio in the summer and a liquor license so as to sell a small selection of drinks like sangria.

“They’ve got deep pockets and politicians on their side,” he said of the Westdale residents, who were resistant to the business’s presence in the neighbourhood.

The ill will was not new to Jimmy Gringo’s.

An April 2010 article in the Hamilton Spectator, reporting on the success of Hamilton’s business districts, quoted Joe Catanzano, co-owner of the restaurant. “We almost have to close our doors,” he told the Spectator. “Everybody says the city should be supporting you but, nobody here wants another Hess Village.”

Because of the residents’ issues with the restaurant’s late-night business and often rowdy customers, MacLachlan said he was often faced with a series of city inspectors and fines.

In September 2009, less than a year after its opening, Jimmy Gringo’s was brought to a City of Hamilton licensing tribunal for having a small collection of tables and chairs in its storefront, which violated code.

MacLachlan was consequently forced to pay a $1,500 fine for operating illegally, as the restaurant’s license designated it takeout-only. He alleged that this fine was imposed despite a city official assuring him he would not be violating code because the restaurant had already put in an application for seating.

As a result of the tribunal, the restaurant’s license was suspended for a day, and as well as being told to immediately remove the seating, it was ordered to put up a sign indicating that the establishment was take-out only.

So, after a tough five years, MacLachlan finally took an opportunity to close up shop.

“The timing was right, and the lease was up,” he said. “I’d had enough.”

Although students won’t have a reliable source for burritos in Westdale, some may find consolation in the opening of the American chain restaurant Taco Del Mar at Main and Emerson. But Ciglen, who considers himself among Jimmy Gringo’s cult following, won’t be among them.

“I tried [Taco Del Mar] to see if I could change it up, but it was too clean, too calculated and precise, and just not good,” he said.

There’s still some hope that Jimmy Gringo’s won’t be gone forever. MacLachlan, who said he has loved serving students, noted that he had the intention of moving elsewhere to “do what [he] had originally hoped.”

But with no location yet in mind, those loyal to Jimmy’s will be going hungry for a good burrito.