Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Police told reporters that the suspect or suspects were in a vehicle when they arrived at the mansion, located near Park Lane Circle and Post Road. It is not clear if Drake was home when the shots rang out shortly after 2 a.m. A security guard standing outside the gates of the residence was wounded and taken to hospital for treatment.
The shooting comes amid an escalating rap beef with Los Angeles rapper Kendrick Lamar. Drake and Lamar released a number of diss tracks aimed at each other over the weekend, which included unsubstantiated allegations and personal insults.
Police have said it is too early to say whether the shooting is linked to that feud.
“The problem that the police will face now is it is a celebrity of Drake’s stature, who has millions of followers online, and there is this sort of backdrop of this feud,” said CTV crime expert Mark Mendelson, who previously worked as a Toronto homicide detective.
“Did that have any motivation behind this? The timing of all of this is interesting but in terms of a police investigation, it is a shooting. And evidence is evidence and the evidence is going to have to dictate the course of this investigation.”
He said security camera footage will be vital.
“There is a lot of video cameras out there. Within 150 yards of that house, there are probably 100 security cameras and the police want to make sure they’ve got the right video, the right vehicle,” Mendelson said.
Media wait for a press conference as Toronto Police investigate a crime scene outside the mansion of Canadian rap mogul Drake in Toronto’s Bridle Path neighbourhood, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Paramedics said a security guard working outside the home was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries in an overnight shooting. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Police will also have access to a key witness account as the victim is expected to survive, Mendelson noted.
“They will wait until he is in a better condition to speak to police. What was said? Did he recognize this individual? Did he recognize this car? Had the car driven past a couple of times before,” Mendelson said. “All of these questions need to be answered.”
Investigators will also need to pore through social media accounts to determine if any threats had been made to the rapper in recent weeks.
“They are going to have to interview the people who are closest to Drake, who manage his social media and other business activities that he’s involved in. Did they have any idea that this was coming?” Mendelson asked.
“You can’t escape the possibility that this is just somebody who is random, who does not like Drake but likes Kendrick Lamar and felt that people were being disrespected and decided to take this into their own hands… It could be something as simple as that.”
Police have said the investigation is in the early stages and a motive has not yet been identified.
With files from Phil Tsekouras