HUNTER: Hamilton cops nab 2 in shocking daylight Dundas murder

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It may seem like a simple equation to John Q. Public, but for the criminally inclined, it’s rocket science.

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It is this: Homicide is very hard to get away with in 2025.

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Too many cameras, sophisticated electronics, social media, a decline of honour in the criminal milieu, and a public fed up with violent crime have sealed the ultimate crime’s fate. If you believe you’re going to get away with murder, you are an idiot.

But, as ever, the criminal community is not known for its intellectual dexterity.

Hamilton Police homicide detectives announced on Tuesday that they had made arrests in the shocking Sunday afternoon shooting death of single dad Zachary Shuman, 25. While it remains to be seen if those charged were involved in the murder, this could be a case in point.

On July 27, shortly after 5 p.m., officers responded to multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots in the area of 77 Governor’s Rd., in Dundas. Know this: The suburban Hamilton community is not exactly the O.K. Corral.

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Cops found Shuman unresponsive and suffering from gunshot wounds, and he would not leave the pavement alive despite heroic efforts. He would go into the ledger of tears as the city’s seventh homicide of 2025.

Detectives believe that Shuman was meeting two men driving a blue Ford Edge in the parking lot of the town’s Metro store.

“There was some sort of disturbance between the Edge and Zach,” Det.-Sgt. Sara Beck told reporters, adding that the victim and the two men accused of sending him to the morgue knew each other.

“What the actual nature of that discussion was and that disturbance, we don’t know at this time.”

Yet cops say something went sideways by the time Shuman parked his grey Dodge Ram, followed by the Edge. And minutes later, he was dead.

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On Sunday, cops arrested Andrew Kowalik, 30, of Dundas, and charged him with second-degree murder. One day later, on Monday in Toronto, detectives arrested 27-year-old Mussie Gebremariam, of Kitchener, who was also charged with second-degree murder.

None of the allegations against them have been tested in court. Both appeared in court on Monday and were remanded into custody.

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Beck told reporters that Kowalik is not known to police, while Gebremariam certainly is. The veteran detective said the Kitchener man is suspected of involvement in drug trafficking in the Hammer but did not elaborate.

But detectives aren’t entirely sure that some sort of drug transaction was the reason for the meet.

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“We don’t necessarily know if that is the reason for the meetup, but we do believe that [drugs] is part of the involvement in this case overall,” she said.

So far, cops don’t know if the murder was pre-planned or targeted. Nor do they know if the senseless slaying was a spur-of-the-moment act of bloodlust with a single shooter squeezing the trigger.

Either way, Beck said: “This is not bringing Zach back.”

After Shuman was murdered, the clock began ticking toward what lately seems like the inevitable: Arrests.

“We did a lot of work over the last two weeks, there was excessive video, canvassing, searching electronic devices and search warrants,” Beck said, adding that a flood of tips from the public also played a starring role.

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Game. Set. Match.

In Toronto, the homicide unit has just three open cases for the current calendar year. The same tale is told with murder police elsewhere.

Even my friend, former mob enforcer, hitman and Gambino underboss Sammy the Bull Gravano told me last year that wiseguys in the Five Families have dialled back the hit parade.

“Cops have too many tools now. It’s really hard to get away with murder,” he said. “Most days, La Cosa Nostra is more like the Lion’s Club. They’re reluctant to kill because, hey, who wants to go to prison?”

Getting away with murder is tough. Even for the pros.

Investigators are urging anyone with information to contact Det. Const. Kimberly Tait of the Homicide Unit at 905-546-4863 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun

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