Police nab teen suspects in downtown Windsor homicide

Police have arrested the person they believe killed a man outside a downtown Windsor homeless shelter less than two weeks ago.

The Windsor Police Service on Thursday announced the capture of Muhamad Taupan, 19, who is charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 27 shooting death of 53-year-old Sean Shuart.

Additionally, a 16-year-old male, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is charged with accessory to murder.

Article content

Both teens were arrested in Peterborough by the Peterborough Police Service emergency response team on Tuesday. The arrests stemmed from “strong inter-agency co-operation,” Windsor police Staff Sgt. Ted Novak told reporters at a news conference held to announce the latest development in the crime case.

The fatal shooting took place the morning of Jan. 27 outside the city’s Homelessness and Housing Help Hub at 400 Wyandotte St. E., where both men had previously accessed services. Police reported that Shuart was fatally shot after a verbal altercation.

Novak said Thursday the firearm involved has not been recovered.

“Firearms are pretty valuable for the criminal element,” he said during the briefing at Windsor police headquarters. “To just dispose of them is not usually what happens. I expect it’s somewhere — we’re still investigating locations both here, Peterborough, somewhere in between.”

Witnesses reported hearing three gunshots at around 7:16 a.m. on Jan. 27 outside H4, police said. Officers responding to reports of an unresponsive man outside the building, which once housed Windsor Water World, and found Shuard suffering from a single gunshot wound.

Article content

Emergency responders performed first aid on Shuart and transported him to the hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased, police said.

Novak said police don’t believe the victim and the suspect knew each other. He had no information to share about Shuart.

The day after the shooting, police released surveillance camera images of a suspect and issued a request for the public’s help in identifying him. At a media conference on Jan. 29, Novak said the suspect was known by the street alias “Ty” and was believed to be new to the Windsor area.

The Windsor police major crimes unit determined that the suspect had fled Windsor, Novak said. The investigation led officers to Peterborough, where Windsor and Peterborough police launched a co-ordinated effort.

Police believe the pair were in Windsor for around a week before the shooting and took a rideshare service to Peterborough, Novak said.

At approximately 5:10 p.m. on Tuesday, Peterborough police conducted a high-risk arrest in the George Street North and Simcoe Street area in Peterborough.

Police took both teens into custody without incident. During a search of the males after their arrest, officers seized 21.5 grams of fentanyl, a replica pellet gun, a large sheathed machete, bear spray, Canadian currency, digital scales, multiple cell phones, and pills that police did not identify.

Article content

In addition to the first-degree murder charge laid by Windsor police, Peterborough police charged Taupan, also known as “Ty,” with two counts of possession of a Schedule 1 substance for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a Schedule 2 substance for the purpose of trafficking, two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and two counts of carrying a concealed weapon.

Peterborough police charged the 16-year-old with unauthorized possession of a weapon, unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm, possession of a Schedule 2 substance for the purpose of trafficking, failure to comply with a release order, and failure to comply with a sentence.

Anyone with information on the homicide investigation is asked to contact the Windsor police major crimes unit at 519-255-6700 ext. 4830. To share information anonymously, contact Crime Stoppers at 519-258-8477 or catchcrooks.com.

Those with information on the duo’s activities in Peterborough should contact Peterborough police at 705-876-1122 ext. 555 or Peterborough Northumberland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or stopcrimehere.ca.

tc*******@*******ia.com“, “layout_section”: “in-page-link”}” data-evt=”click” data-evt-typ=”click” href=”http://windsorstar.com/tc*******@*******ia.com“>tc*******@*******ia.com

Article content