A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Michael Bebee, 35, was arrested without incident by Charlottetown police at a business on Belvedere Avenue at around 7:20 p.m. on Tuesday, a news release notes.
The arrest came exactly one week after Bebee was listed as the most wanted fugitive on an updated list released by the BOLO (Be on the Lookout) program.
Bebee was wanted for first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Shamar Powell-Flowers near Danforth and Carlaw avenues in the early morning hours of July 23, 2023.
During a news conference last month, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said at the time of Powell-Flowers’ murder, Bebee was under a gun prohibition for his role in another Toronto shooting four years earlier.
In a news release, Charlottetown Police Services (CPS) said that they were contacted by Toronto police late last week asking for help with tips they’d received indicating that Bebee may have been in Prince Edward Island.
Toronto Police Most Wanted/Michael Bebee
Police say that Bebee has since been taken to PEI’s Provincial Correctional Centre.
“Homicide detectives from Toronto Police Service will be travelling to the island to bring him back to Ontario in the coming days,” they said.
A $100,000 reward had previously been offered for information leading to Bebee’s arrest.
On April 23, the day that Bebee was announced as the Canada’s most wanted fugitive, Powell-Flowers’ family released a statement saying that are still grappling with the loss of their loved one.
“For nine months, we have been crippled not only by grief, but by the realization that there are people out there who could help us, but who instead have chosen to remain silent,” they said.
Shamar Powell-Flowers is seen in this undated photo released by Toronto police. (Supplied)
“People who could step up as our amazing Shamar would have stepped up for them had the tables been turned, had someone not chosen to carry a gun and fire a shot that left a hole in his heart and our hearts and the hearts of so many others.”
The man’s family described Powell-Flowers, a construction engineer, as “brave, loyal, ambitious, highly intelligent, and hardworking.”
“He was a guardian angel and guiding star who was always trying to save others. How cruel it is that this loving and beloved man, our Shamar, could not be saved himself, and was left to die alone,” the statement said.