A 40-year-old man with an extensive criminal history has been charged with first-degree murder after a Nigerian national was shot dead on a GO bus at the Yorkdale GO Bus Terminal in Toronto, marking the city’s first homicide of 2026.
Toronto Police, in a statement on their website, said officers were called to the terminal, near Yorkdale Road and Allen Road, at about 7 p.m. on Sunday, January 4, following reports of a shooting. Investigators allege that both the suspect and the victim boarded a GO bus at the terminal, where the suspect shot the victim before fleeing the scene on foot.
According to the statement, officers arrived to find a man suffering from a gunshot wound, but despite carrying out life-saving measures, the Nigerian was pronounced dead at the scene.
The victim was later identified as Osemwengie Irorere, a 46-year-old man from Nigeria, the Toronto police said in a later statement.
Local media reports noted that an eyewitness who was seated just behind the victim said the bus had been dark and crowded as passengers waited to depart when a single gunshot rang out.
“I assumed it was a popped tyre or something, but immediately after, a guy sitting in front of me got up, shoved his hands in his pocket and ran off the bus,” the witness said, requesting anonymity for safety reasons.
“Right after, I stood up and I looked at the seat in front of me and I saw a guy, bleeding,” he added, saying he could smell smoke in the air after the shot was fired.
Police said the suspect was located and arrested a short time later near the Yorkdale subway station, and a firearm was recovered.
The accused has been identified as Tyrel Gibson, 40, of Toronto. He appeared at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on Monday, January 5.
Court documents show that Gibson has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 2000, with nearly two dozen charges. He has previously been convicted of offences including attempted murder and firearm-related crimes. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, using a firearm, possession of a firearm with ammunition and possession of an unauthorised firearm and was handed a lifetime weapons prohibition. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2017, although it remains unclear how much of that term he served
