Shooting of Hamilton boy at home linked to 'New Money So Sick' gang
The shooting of a seven-year-old boy, mistakenly hit when a gunman fired into his home in east Hamilton last January, has been linked to a Peel Region street gang targeted in a multi-jurisdictional police investigation.
On Wednesday, Peel Regional Police announced 88 arrests, more than 800 charges and the seizure of 34 guns in the 14 month-long investigation, dubbed Project Siphon. This included multiple homicides, shootings, money laundering, human trafficking and drug trafficking centred on a street gang based in Mississauga and Brampton identified as New Money So Sick.
In Hamilton, the Jan. 23, 2020, shooting of a child inside his Gordon Street home is tied to the gang, said Const. Krista-Lee Ernst. And the June 10 arrest of 20-year-old Jayden Pitter in that case was directly the result of Project Siphon.
Pitter is an alleged member of New Money So Sick, she said. He was allegedly in hiding before his arrest.
He faces charges of discharging a firearm with intent, aggravated assault, criminal negligence causing bodily harm and other firearm and breach charges.
The boy survived the shooting, but the case outraged the Hamilton community.
Just before 8 p.m. on Jan. 23, a gunman walked into the backyard of the two-storey brick home at 16 Gordon St. and fired at least two times through the back window hitting the seven-year-old boy. A getaway driver waited out front and the gunman got away.
Three adults and another child were also home at the time, but not hurt. Someone else connected to the home was the true target, police have said.
Neighbours described hearing the shots and then the screams of the boy's mother. One neighbour ran to help the boy, applying pressure to wounds in his stomach and hand, as they waited for paramedics. He recalled the boy asking if he was going to die.
On Wednesday, Ernst said police believe the entire shooting incident was tied to the street gang.
A co-accused in the shooting, Mohd Amiri, is allegedly an associate of Pitter, but not a member of the gang, she said.
During the Peel Regional Police news conference streamed online Wednesday morning, Chief Nishan Duraiappah said he usually doesn't want to give street gangs notoriety, but police decided to name the gang because evidence supports charging members with being part of a criminal organization.
He called the gang's crimes, some of the most thoughtless violence in recent years." Bullets flew with a shocking disregard" for people, including children, caught in the crossfire.
Among the allegations is that the gang ran an illegal mobile cannabis operation, Sickspensary. Nearly $2 million in drugs was seized.
Police said they had dismantled the gang, but also noted work needed to be done to stop other young people from filling that void.
Hamilton police teams from the vice and drug unit, as well as the gang and weapons enforcement unit, also participated in the project.
Other police services including Halton, Waterloo, Toronto, York and OPP. In all, nearly 600 police officers participated.
Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com