Private transportation company Uber has confirmed that the victim of a recent fatal shooting in Brampton was one of its drivers.
Uber’s senior communications associate Navideh Forghani said the 45-year-old driver had been using the Uber app to drive since 2019.
“This senseless act of violence that took the life of Mr. Raiz Ahmed is heartbreaking,” he said in an emailed statement to the Star.
“Our thoughts are with his family. We are working with law enforcement on their investigation, ”he said, noting that the company is also reaching out to Ahmed’s family to offer support. The company also “immediately deactivated” Ahmed’s passenger account after the shooting, Forghani.
Peel police say officers located a man suffering from gunshot wounds behind a shopping plaza near Brickyard Way and Quarry Edge Drive in the early hours of the morning of Saturday, Nov. 13.
The police have not independently identified Ahmed as a victim of the killing. Const. Akhil Mooken, a spokesman for Peel’s police, told the Star that the investigation is ongoing and that the police cannot share further details about the victim at this time.
Peel’s homicide investigators, with the help of Toronto police, arrested Carlton Brown, 23, in the Broadview Avenue and Browning Avenue area of Toronto. He has been charged with one count of second degree murder and appeared in court in Brampton on November 14.
Uber drivers have several options available to them for their safety, Forghani said, including an emergency button to dial 911, GPS tracking and the ability to share real-time ride routes with family members.
According to a press release, the arresting officers searched Brown’s residence and located two firearms. One of them was a loaded .22-caliber rifle, which investigators believe was used in the shooting.
Last month, a Toronto taxi driver was shot and killed while at work. Christopher Jung, 73, was behind the wheel when his taxi crashed into a fence near Pharmacy and Eglinton in the evening hours of October 24. Responding officers found him unconscious with multiple gunshot wounds and he was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The police issued a warrant for a 17-year-old who is wanted in connection with Jung’s murder. The teenager faces a second degree murder charge.
Reference-www.thestar.com