WARMINGTON: Was Toronto man’s death tied to fatal shooting?

A 60-year-old was taken into custody following deadly violence last week, but many questions remain.

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Published May 03, 2026  •  Last updated 11 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Daniel Stopnicki Photo by HANDOUT /https://benjaminsparkmemorialchapel.ca

As a Jewish Toronto family was having a funeral for their slain son at Benjamin’s Park Memorial Chapel on Sunday, many questions remained unsolved about the mysterious death of Daniel Stopnicki.

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If not for the funeral announcement obituary that said he died “tragically,” the public would not know that he was slain, family friends said.

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“He was shot while walking his dog” near his home, a family friend told the Toronto Sun.

Information as to where that happened to Stopnicki has not yet been officially released.

Tribute statements on his death notice on the Benjamin’s website say he was a popular gamer who taught gaming and animation at Seneca College.

Flowers and a candle were set up at Wenderly Park in North York where an unnamed person was shot dead last Thursday. JOE WARMINGTON/TORONTO SUN

While police have not so far tied this death to it, Toronto Police did respond to a homicide in Wenderly Park in the Glencairn and Marlee Aves. area on Thursday afternoon in which a man was shot to death. A 60-year-old was taken into custody.

“We will release that information once Homicide is ready,” said Toronto Police spokesperson Shannon Eames said of the person they arrested and if there have been murder charges laid.

She did say “this was a targeted incident.”

Toronto Police are investigating a homicide in Wenderly Park. JOE WARMINGTON/TORONTO SUN

As for the name of the victim, Eames said “we will release the names once the next of kin has been notified.”

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So it’s a riddle at this point.

We have an unnamed man who was shot to death in a park, and a man who friends say was shot to death walking his dog, and a funeral for a man where mourners were being asked to donate to victims of violence.

We have an unnamed person arrested.

So far, police are not filling in the blanks.

Small vigil in park

Meanwhile, inside Wenderly  Park there is a small vigil at the location where Thursday’s shooting occurred. There is one bouquet of flowers and one candle, which was still burning on Sunday.

A motive for the attack in the park has not been revealed.

The death notice on the Benjamin’s website says that Stopnicki died “tragically on Thursday, April 30, 2026.”

“Daniel, beloved husband of Tatyana. Cherished son of Michal, and Roberto and Becky. Dear brother and brother-in-law of Maya and Michael, and Dalia and Mitch. And great companion to Cornelius. Memorial donations may be made to Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime, 1-877-232-2610, crcvc.ca/contact-us,” it read.

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At a time when there have been so many concerns about violence against the Jewish community including shootings of synagogues at people, and retired Insp. Hank Idsinga’s revelations in his book The High Road: Confessions of a Homicide Cop on anti-Jewish sentiments amongst the upper ranks, it seems it would be in the public’s interest for police to release all of this information that belongs to the whole community.

It’s a strange period of time with the shooting of an Orbeez-type gun, which typically fires water-based soft gel beads. toward Jewish people as the Sun reported Saturday, and the incident at Trinity Bellwoods Park captured by journalist and lawyer Caryma Sa’d in which a man dressed in a full tactical costume carryng a mock assault rifle.

With London, England on high terror alert, it would be better if police were transparent with these cases and let the public know.

As the flame burns at this vigil, there are more questions than answers — something police should address.

Who was slain in Wenderly Park? Who was arrested? What are the charges? What was the motive?

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