Gun owned by Toronto cop tied to extortion shooting in Brampton
Published April 5, 2024 at 5:26 pm
A gun registered to a suspended police officer in Toronto is connected to a targeted extortion shooting in Brampton, police have confirmed.
The shooting happened on Dec. 9 when Peel Regional Police say two suspects opened fire on a business in the area of Rutherford Road South and Clark Boulevard in Brampton.
The shooting is one of several cases under investigation by Peel police’s new Extortion Investigative Task Force, formed following dozens of threats and attacks against South Asian residents and business owners in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.
Two firearms were recovered and one man from Surrey, B.C. was arrested in connection to the shooting while one suspect is still at large.
But police have now confirmed that one of the seized weapons belongs to a suspended Toronto Police Service charged with firearm-related offences.
The firearm is registered to a TPS constable who was arrested on Thursday, a spokesperson for Peel police confirmed to Insauga.com.
Videos
Police have not said whether the weapon registered to the constable was used in the Brampton shooting on Dec. 9.
The recovered firearm is from the officer’s personal collection and not a police-issued service weapon, police said. Recovery of the firearm led investigators to a residence in Hamilton where police found another 20 guns.
Police say some were carelessly stored, and officers also recovered an illicit overcapacity magazine in the raid.
Toronto Police Service Const. Frederick Teatero, 51, was arrested on April 4.
RELATED: Ties to organized crime possible in violent extortions of South Asians in Mississauga and Brampton
The accused is charged with failure to report, unauthorized possession of a prohibited device and two counts of careless storage of a firearm, and is scheduled to make a court appearance on May 17.
In February, Peel police said they’d made at least five arrests and begun dismantling a “complex ecosystem” of alleged extortionists targeting the South Asian community in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.
The scam starts with a phone call or text message from fraudsters making threats for protection money, and in cases like the incident on Dec. 9, the demands have escalated to violence.
The extortion task force says much of the personal information used by extortionists can be easily accessed online, and police are urging residents to be careful about what details they share on social media.
But the extortions are not just a Peel problem as police forces in at least three provinces are dealing with similar attacks and threats against members of the public.
The RCMP has formed a multi-jurisdictional team to investigate the trend of extortions which have been tied to organized crime groups in India.
insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising