Investigators with Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) say they have made an arrest in connection with the fatal shooting of a security guard at Pickering Casino Resort nearly three years ago.
Officers were called to the entertainment complex around 5 a.m. Oct. 9, 2023. A man, who police have since identified as 24-year-old Michael Ferdinand, was found at the scene with a life-threatening gunshot wound and was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Around a month later, police issued a Canada-wide warrant for a 17-year-old wanted for second-degree murder in the shooting.
Two years later, in 2025, Crime Stoppers offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the suspect’s arrest. At the time, DRPS said the now 20-year-old suspect had no fixed address at the time of the alleged shooting.
In an update on July 20, 2026, police said they “located a suspect connected to the Pickering Casino Resort homicide investigation, outside of Ontario. With the assistance of our out-of-province law enforcement partners, the suspect was successfully taken into custody.”
Police have not said where outside of the province he was arrested and have not released the suspect’s name since he was under the age of 18 at the time of the shooting.
“We are working closely with these law enforcement partners and will pursue all available legal avenues to ensure that any individual sought in connection with this investigation is returned to the appropriate jurisdiction to face the charges against them. As this remains an active and ongoing investigation, further information will be released as it becomes available,” the statement from DRPS reads.
With files from Dilshad Burman, Lucas Casaletto, and Michael Ranger, CityNews
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