Murdered woman’s family ‘deserves answers’ after Mississauga shooting: Police chief

Peel’s police chief took to social media today to appeal to the public for help in tracking down the person who shot to death an innocent bystander as she stood outside a jam-packed Mississauga nightclub in the early morning hours of Dec. 31.

The plea from Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah comes two weeks after he and lead investigators in the murder case held a press conference at police headquarters in Mississauga where they released a photo of the suspect vehicle.

Police believe the bullet that struck and killed Raneilia Richards, 19, of North York, was fired from a gun inside a grey or light-coloured SUV that quickly sped away from Jungle Event Space, at Dixie Road and Eglinton Avenue East, after the 1:30 a.m. shooting.

“The Richards family deserves answers and justice over the loss of Raneilia Richards, an innocent 19-year old tragically murdered on Dec. 31,” Duraiappah said in a post to X (formerly Twitter).

He added that anyone with information on the shooting or the SUV can call homicide detectives at 905-453-2121, ext. 3205, or Peel Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

Speaking to the media on Jan. 9, Acting Homicide Insp. Phillip King reiterated that Richards was an “innocent bystander” and not the intended target of the fatal shooting, which occurred outside a club and plaza with a lengthy history of gun violence, deadly and otherwise.

Formerly known as HER nightclub, which shut down in late 2022 after a rash of gun violence, the location reopened several months later under the Jungle Event Space name, police said earlier.

The club has been shut down again since the Dec. 31 shooting.

Richards was standing in a line of about 100 people along with her sister and boyfriend when multiple gunshots rang out, one of the bullets striking and killing the young woman who would’ve began college that same week with a dream of working in the travel and aviation industry.

Duraiappah said at the time “it’s absolutely a miracle” others weren’t hurt or killed given that multiple shots were fired toward the crowd,

Map shows intersection in east Mississauga (Eglinton Avenue East and Dixie Road) where the deadly shooting took place.