Family 'devastated' after shooting death of man on GO bus in January, brother says
CBC
Before he was shot dead on a GO Transit bus in Toronto in January, Osemwengie Irorere hoped to become a nurse to create a better life for his wife and four children back home, a family member says.
The 46-year-old from Nigeria was fatally shot on the bus at the GO bus terminal next to Yorkdale Shopping Centre on Jan. 4 at about 7 p.m.
"It was very, very devastating to hear that news, that my brother who was very happy and full of life with a lot of dreams and goals, was pronounced dead in a very ugly incident," his younger brother, Eric Irorere, told CBC Toronto.
"Obviously, it's been a very difficult time for myself and for the entire family."
Toronto police found Osemwengie on the bus suffering from a gunshot wound and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Irorere was Toronto's first homicide victim of the year.
Tyrel Gibson, 40, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death. He had been released from federal prison six months earlier, having served eight years for assault and firearms charges.
Police allege Gibson and Osemwengie boarded the same bus at the terminal, and Gibson shot Irorere before fleeing on foot. Gibson was arrested a short time later and police recovered a firearm after he was located.
In an interview from the United Kingdom, Osemwengie's brother said he was a hard-working person who had much compassion for others and loved to be around people.
"I would say he is an angel in terms of his character," Eric said.
Osemwengie moved to Canada in 2023 to pursue a career in nursing and he was renting a home in Oshawa at the time of his murder. His children are aged 20, 18, 16 and 13.
Eric said the first sign that something was wrong was when the family was celebrating the 13th birthday of Osemwengie's youngest child in Nigeria on Jan. 4 and they didn't hear from him.
"We were trying to reach out to him on the 4th because he doesn't joke with posting the family, especially on an event like that, on a birthday, but he didn't post anything, so we were quite worried," he said.
Family members tried to call his phone, which was switched off. They then tried to call contacts in the Greater Toronto Area, but they could not get information.
On Jan. 7, Nigerian police knocked on the family's door looking for Osemwengie's next of kin to share the news. Eric said the family found it hard to believe that he was dead.
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