Organizer of deadly Mississauga restaurant shooting ordered men to 'slaughter' victims, court hears

The alleged organizer of a fatal Mississauga restaurant shooting in 2021 made a man pledge allegiance to ISIS before he told him he ordered two others to "slaughter" the victims, court heard Tuesday. 

Mikail Aras testified in Superior Court in Brampton that he saw accused gunman Anand Nath at a Mississauga warehouse before and after the May 29, 2021 shooting at Chicken Land that left 25-year-old Naim Akl dead, and four members of his family injured. 

Aras said Nath had been staying with him for at least a week before the shooting happened. He testified Nath asked him to join the others at the warehouse two days after the incident to find out about their activities.

"They asked me to get my hand out for some allegiance to Ibrahim al-Hashimi. I later found out that that was some ISIS leader," Aras told the 14-member jury. 

Court heard that Aras went to police on June 8, 2021, to report the three men's involvement in the shooting. The accused were arrested a day later. 

Crown prosecutors allege the shooting was planned by three men — Nath, Suliman Raza and Naqash Abbasi. All three have pleaded not guilty to one count each of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.

Nath, from Mississauga, is accused of carrying out the shooting, while Raza, also from Mississauga, was the alleged getaway driver. Abbasi, from Brampton, was the alleged organizer, according to the Crown.

"Naqash ordered [Akl's] whole family to be slaughtered," Aras testified.

Prosecutors allege the men operated a business called TryALinc, and were buying and selling Amazon products out of a Mississauga warehouse. Aras told the court Abbasi confessed to sending money they made from the business to Pakistan, where he is originally from, to support ISIS.

The defence has not yet made its case.

As for why there were no terror charges laid in connection with the allegations, the Ministry of the Attorney General has told CBC News it would be inappropriate to comment given the case is before the courts.

Alleged shooter 'looked shocked' after incident: witness

Aras also described what he saw at the warehouse after the shooting took place. That night, he testified, he was asked to watch over things after two of the accused told him they were going to get a copy of a lost key. 

Upon their return, Aras knew something was wrong when he saw Nath getting out of the trunk of Raza's car, court heard.

"He just looked severely stressed out, he didn't look like the same kind of person I had seen before … like they ended up robbing someone," Aras said. "His eyes were wide open, he looked shocked."

Aras testified that he was unaware that on that day, Nath and Raza had allegedly carried out a shooting at the family-owned restaurant at Glen Erin Drive and the Collegeway. 

Two days after the incident, Aras found out what the three men had allegedly done and turned them in to the police, court heard.

Akl 'was a liability,' court hears

Aras testified he spent days gathering information about the alleged attack before he went to police, such as where the alleged murder weapon was and why Akl's family was targeted. 

During the May 31 warehouse meeting, Abbasi told him the victim was a liability because he knew about their pledged allegiance to ISIS and might go to the police since Abbasi owed him nearly $20,000. 

"He (Abbasi) said he (Akl) is a risk and a liability," Aras said in his testimony. 

Last week, the jury heard from another witness, Ammar Hashmi, who was also the victim's best friend, about a heated falling out between Akl and Abbasi, with Akl calling him "evil" in a group chat.

The Crown played audio of a call in which Akl was recorded telling Abbasi he did not want to work with him anymore and did not want his $20,000 back. Abbasi was heard screaming and swearing at Akl. 

"I don't think you know what you're doing here… you think I need your 20 grand? Shove it up your ass… you're a f—g idiot, loser," Abbasi told Akl on the call. 

Getaway driver laughed after shooting, court hears 

On Tuesday the jury saw videos of Aras walking out of the TryALinc warehouse with Nath and Raza within hours of the shooting.  Seeing Nath distraught, Aras asked the two accused what had happened, court heard. 

"Raza kept laughing from time to time… they didn't tell me," Aras said. During Aras's testimony, Raza was also seen laughing and nodding in court.

Aras testified Nath had a panic attack in the middle of the night on the night of the attack.

Two days later, Nath repeated how he shot at the Akl family "over and over again. It felt like forever, it was so surreal," Aras said. 

Aras testified he called Nath during Nath's trip to Montreal following the shooting to ask him about where the silver glock he saw in the warehouse was. 

"He said he went to a park during the night, took the dirt out with his hands, put the gun in a plastic bag and covered it with dirt ," Aras said. 

Aras will be back in the witness box when the trial resumes Thursday.