Bridle Path home invasion: Toronto police face pointed questions about disappearance of suspect - Toronto Star

News that one of the suspects was in the grasp of police but released without charges has provoked swift public criticism in the wake of Thursday's violent home invasion in one of Canada's richest neighbourhoods.

A police officer works at the scene of a home invasion in the Bridle Path neighbourhood in Toronto last week. 

Toronto’s top cop is defending his officers following the disappearance of a suspect in last week’s Bridle Path home invasion, who was admitted to hospital with a gunshot wound after the break-in but released hours later — and is now wanted on a Canada-wide warrant. 

Chief Myron Demkiw told a news conference Monday that police were merely following the evidence in a “very active” investigation but provided few new details about how 23-year-old Daijohn Richards — now one of three men wanted in Thursday’s high profile Bridle Path home invasion and shooting — was allowed to walk out the hospital hours later and has since evaded capture. 

“There’s been no failure. There’s been nothing but exceptional police work, exceptional investigative steps taken,” Demkiw said at an unrelated press conference kicking off Crime Prevention week, where he faced a raft of questions about police handling of the home invasion.

Daijohn Richards in a photo released by Toronto police on Saturday. Toronto police say they interacted with the 23-year-old at a west-end hospital following the Bridle Path home invasion.

“Had there been evidence to allow us to do something different, that’s what would have happened,” Demkiw said.

He would not comment on whether Richards was the subject of police surveillance at the time he was released from hospital or provide any other information about investigative techniques in the case. 

News that one of the suspects was in the grasp of police but released without charges has provoked swift public criticism in the wake of Thursday’s violent home invasion in one of Canada’s richest neighbourhoods, believed to have been a robbery that ended with a family of four in hospital.

David Morton, a Toronto real estate CEO, and his two adult daughters Maggie and Cristina were shot after three masked gunmen entered their home and made a demand for valuables. Doriana Zohil, Morton’s wife, was hospitalized after being attacked by a hammer. Two of the injured family members sustained what police called “life altering” injuries. 

On Saturday, police revealed that Richards had checked himself into St. Joseph’s Health Centre with a gunshot wound less than an hour after the home invasion but was released from hospital later that day and is now missing — facing a slew of criminal charges including four counts of robbery with a firearm, four counts of discharging a firearm with intent to wound and one count of break and enter. 

Police believe he was mistakenly shot in his right shoulder by one of the other suspects during the Bridle Path break-in.

Speaking to reporters Saturday, Toronto police Insp. Kristy Smith said Richards was not identified as a suspect until a day after he was discharged from hospital. The new information identifying him as a suspect was based on additional canvassing and results from with the centre for forensic sciences.

In a statement posted to X later Saturday, addressing “some confusion” about the incident, Toronto police said investigators “immediately recognized the potential connection” between the Bridle Path shooting and the patient with a gunshot wound but did not have enough evidence to make an arrest.

“Suspicion alone isn’t enough. Police need reasonable grounds, supported by evidence, to make an arrest,” police said. 

Demkiw said he understood the public call for answers “given the brazen, terrible nature” of the incident but said officers are in the midst of a dynamic investigation and said answers would come in due course. He has “complete confidence” in the abilities of the investigators, Demkiw said. 

“The public’s questions will be answered in a court of law,” Demkiw said. 

Richards and the other two unidentified suspects should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.

In a statement released Friday, Morton said his family endured a “terrifying and life-threatening experience” when masked intruders broke in, shot him and his two adult daughters and attacked his whole family with a hammer.

“It is difficult to put into words the trauma of experiencing something so horrific in the one place where everyone should feel safest: their own home,” Morton said.

Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing for the Star. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis.