'I need to know your name': A desperate search for Emad Rozik's killer
A fatal shooting has witnesses, video, and a voice. But, six years later, it's still a cold case.
Emad Rozik was working at the carwash he owned in Scarborough, Ont., July 6, 2010, when a man walked in and began rummaging behind the counter.
Emad suspected he was being robbed and called 911, but that didn't stop the man from pulling out a gun and starting to shoot. Audio of Emad's 911 call captured the shooter's voice and surveillance cameras captured his face. When police and paramedics arrived, Emad was rushed to the hospital, but he died of a gunshot wound.
The 49-year-old's family business was a crime scene — with all the evidence police thought they would need to solve the case.
"I was quite hopeful and confident that we would be solving this murder quite quickly. Unfortunately that wasn't the case" Detective Sheila Ogg tells CBC's Dave Ridgen, host of Someone Knows Something. Oggs is one of the original investigators on the case.
"We have this on video and this is a huge piece. You think we're going to get this guy. And nothing."
Police made an appeal for help from witnesses, or anyone who might recognize the killer on the grainy security camera footage. They offered a $50,000 reward for information.
But six years later, Emad's son Michael is still waiting for a tip that would identify his father's killer.
"They had the getaway car on video. They had the guy on video and I was just surprised that there was nothing," Michael says.
"People kept telling me, you know, it was a miracle. It was a blessing that I hadn't been there for the tragedy in itself." Michael tells Ridgen.
"Sometimes I think otherwise. Sometimes I think if I was there I could've made a difference."
Police are again appealing for the public's help and have now released an extended video of the shooting, and for the first time, the audio of the shooter's voice. They hope that someone will recognize the shooter's voice or mannerisms.
"I want people to look at the way this man walks, the way he carries himself. He's got a swagger, almost I would say is it bowleggedness? says Det. Ogg. "The way he walks is important."
Emad's son Michael is pleased that there is renewed publicity on his father's shooting, but remains frustrated by the lack of justice.
"I have nothing against the police and I believe that they do their jobs the best they can but generally they say after 48 hours, your odds of finding a suspect or finding anything let alone is greatly reduced. And I feel within that 48 hours they hadn't put in the work that they could have."
Michael wonders why a sketch artist wasn't hired to share on the news that he says "could have significantly helped at that moment in time."
Detective Stacy Gallant is now the lead detective on what has become a cold case. He has almost all the evidence he needs to make a murder case, except for one thing — a name.
"We know who did it," Det. Gallant says. But at this point he says public assistance from the public is needed to provide a name and push the case in the right direction.
"I know exactly who you are. I just don't know your name yet. I'm coming for you... but I need to know your name."
"These type of things, you can't keep a secret forever."
Listen to the documentary, I Need To Know Your Name, at the top of this post.
This documentary was produced by the CBC's Dave Ridgen, host of the CBC podcast Someone Knows Something, as well as Stephanie Kampf, Sandra Bartlett, Chris Oke and The Current's documentary editor, Joan Webber.