Accused in deadly GO bus shooting has decades-long rap sheet

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A 40-year-old man with a lengthy history of violent crime is now accused of a deadly shooting on a GO bus in North York on Sunday — the city’s first murder of the year.

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And the accused killer has family members who are also no strangers to violence.

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Toronto Police say the shooting unfolded at the Yorkdale GO bus terminal at Yorkdale Rd. and Allen Rd. around 7 p.m.

“It is alleged that the victim and suspect both boarded a GO bus at the terminal,” police said in a statement released Wednesday, adding the suspect allegedly “shot the victim on the bus before fleeing the area on foot.”

“Officers arrived and located the male victim suffering from a gunshot wound,” police said. “Life-saving measures were performed, but the victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Late Wednesday afternoon, police identified the victim as 46-year-old Osemwengie Irorere, of Nigeria.

Accused man ran afoul of the law for decades

Officers located the suspect inside Yorkdale Mall shortly after the shooting and police said a firearm was recovered.

Tyrel Gibson — a Toronto man who has reportedly been running afoul of the law for decades — is charged with first-degree murder.

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Police have released no further details about the murder or what may have prompted the deadly shooting.

But Tyrel Gibson has reportedly been convicted over the years of numerous offences, including attempted murder, assault, robbery, gun charges, breaking-and-entering and uttering threats.

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Run-ins with the law a family affair

Interestingly, his brother Marcus Gibson was shot to death at 24 years old in his Rivertowne home in 2016 — a murder that was believed to be tied to a war between the Regent Park-based gang Sick Thugz and a splinter group known as Halal Gang, both of which have had members involved in the music industry.

In 2017, a source described the conflict to the Toronto Sun as an “internal cleansing,” with Halal Gang members picking off senior Sick Thugz members. At that time, there had been six deadly shootings — one of claimed the life an innocent grandmother — in the span of 11 months.

Marcus Gibson, aka Ruckus, was also one of three men acquitted of first-degree murder in 2017 for the shooting of Tariq Mohammed, 31, at Garden Restaurant on Dundas St. W. in 2014.

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And Michael “Teddy” Gibson, a cousin of Tyrel and Marcus, was wanted for the murder of Julian Weekes, 29, outside of a Queen St. bar after a memorial for another murder victim — Ceyon Carrington — in March 2016.

Michael Gibson, aka Tyke, was arrested in Aruba in May 2017 for allegedly gunning down Thuy Hoang Nguyen Quach, an acquaintance from Regent Park.

The status of that case is unknown.

Tyrel Gibson made his first court appearance in Toronto on Monday and he remains in custody awaiting a bail hearing.

Anyone with information regarding the city’s first murder of 2026 is urged to call the Homicide Unit at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

cdoucette@postmedia.com

@sundoucette

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