York student murdered

Raymond Kwan
Senior Staff

Police are looking for a suspect who allegedly murdered York student Vincent Dang by driving into him with an SUV in Toronto’s Entertainment District Nov. 27
Dang’s killing marks Toronto’s 57th homicide of the year and is also part of a disturbing trend of young murder victims in the city. Since the beginning of the fall semester in early September, 17 people between the ages of 18-25 have been killed in the city.
“I have been in the homicide unit for the past five years […] it’s males between the age of 18 and 30,” said Detective Sgt. Dan Nielsen of the Toronto Police Homicide Squad.
According to Toronto police, 20-year-old York business student Dang, from Concord, Ontario, was deliberately run over by an SUV around 2:30 a.m. at the intersection of Wellington St. and Blue Jays Way after he and his friends got into an argument with another group inside the Rockwood Club on 31 Mercer St.
Dang was partying with his friends on the night of Friday, Nov. 26 when an argument broke out inside Rockwood Club with other patrons, said police. The suspect’s vehicle, described as a dark grey Suburban or Denali, was driving eastbound on Wellington St. W when it suddenly made a U-turn and headed di- rectly at Dang, hitting him on the north sidewalk.
Neilsen believes the argument between the two groups directly led to Dang’s death.
An arrest warrant has been issued for 26-year-old Naveen Ariaratnam, of no fixed address. He is wanted on the charge of second-degree murder, and has previously lived in St. Catharine’s and Toronto.
“The investigation is still on going. There [were] two groups of friends. We are still trying to figure out who was involved in the fight,” said Nielsen.
“It’s not unusual for a vehicle to be a method of murder. It is certainly not the most common use of weapon,” said Nielsen.
The vehicle fled the scene while traveling southbound on Blue Jays Way and was believed to have been carrying three to five passengers at the time.
Police are also on the look- out for two persons of interest: 20-year-old Kim Allen Cacao of Toronto and a second unidentified male, described as brown, between five-foot-five and five-foot-eight, with a slim build; both are believed to have been with Ariaratnam when the murder occurred.
Alex Bilyk, York’s director of media relations, said Dang’s death is a tragedy and that the York community’s thoughts are with his family.
Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo, an anti-violence activist, believes fights break out often between young people because they think violence can solve conflicts.
“Anger management is an issue with young people. When they get angry they’ll shoot you because you didn’t like the way you looked at them […] or because they didn’t like the fact you spoke to their girl,” said Omololu- Olunloyo.
Pictures of Ariaratnam, Cacao and the second person of interest can be found on the Toronto Police Service’s website.
Anyone with information may contact Detective Sgt. Nielsen at 416-808-7398 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477).