Morning in Toronto often begins with the steady movement of traffic along Highway 401 and the quiet unlocking of storefronts across the city’s busy shopping districts. At places like Yorkdale Shopping Centre, the rhythm of daily life usually unfolds with familiar ease — commuters passing through, employees arriving for early shifts, and shoppers beginning their day.
But one morning last summer, that routine was shattered by gunfire in the mall’s parking lot.
Police say the shooting took place shortly after 6 a.m. on July 17, 2025. Officers responding to reports of gunfire found a 28-year-old man, Kashif Jamal Bentley‑Jean, suffering from gunshot wounds outside the shopping complex. Despite efforts by paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The killing quickly became one of the city’s major homicide investigations.
In the weeks that followed, detectives from the Toronto Police Service began piecing together the events surrounding the shooting. Their investigation eventually identified several suspects believed to have been involved.
One of them, Bryan Emmanuel Fuentes Gramajo, soon rose to national attention. Authorities say the 24-year-old Montreal resident was placed on the country’s most-wanted list by the BOLO Program, an initiative that highlights suspects sought in serious crimes across Canada.
For months, the search stretched beyond Toronto, following a trail that eventually led hundreds of kilometers away.
Police in Montreal say officers from the city’s major crimes unit arrested Fuentes Gramajo early this week in the borough of Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie. Authorities confirmed he was taken into custody on a Canada-wide warrant issued by investigators in Toronto.
Following his arrest, Fuentes Gramajo was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting. He is expected to be transferred to Toronto to face the charge in court.
The investigation had already produced another arrest. Police previously charged Bradley Lucate Nicolas with first-degree murder in the same case. Investigators have also identified Jimmy Prudent as another suspect who remains wanted.
For investigators, the arrest marks a significant development in a case that began with violence in one of Toronto’s most recognizable public spaces. The parking lot where the shooting occurred — normally a place of arriving workers and early commuters — briefly became the center of a crime that triggered a national manhunt.
Now, the case moves from search to courtroom. While one of Canada’s most wanted fugitives is now in custody, police say the investigation continues as they work to fully reconstruct the events of that early morning in July.
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Sources
The Canadian Press
CityNews Toronto
Toronto Police Service
Global News
Montreal Police Service