Investigators believe around 10 people witnessed Kitchener homicide

More than a week after an 18-year-old man was shot and killed outside downtown Kitchener restaurant, police have renewed an appeal for witnesses to come forward as they continue to search for a suspect.

On Wednesday, Waterloo regional police said investigators believe around 10 people witnessed the Aug. 13 homicide.

“We've interviewed many of them; we're having varying levels of cooperation,” Insp. Kyle Lambert said. “So I'm appealing to the public, for people that we're in and around this area to come forward and provide us with information because we think that they know more than what some of them are telling us.”

“At the end of the day, we have an 18-year-old male who was murdered in our region. He was the son. He was a brother. He was a friend of many, so we'd like for people to come forward and provide us information so we can solve this homicide,” Lambert said.

Police also released a grainy video of the suspect, who they said arrived in the area on a white motorized scooter. The footage is attached at the bottom of this article.

Family members have identified the victim in Waterloo Region’s second homicide of 2023 as Joshua Tarnue.

The 18-year-old is being remembered as a soft spoken and generous person with a love for food.

“If he could cook all my food that I had in my kitchen to feed his friends, he would, no matter how much I made noise about it,” his mother Evelyn Woart told CTV News at a vigil on Sunday.

She’s pleading for the shooter to come forward.

“I want answers for why my son was killed. Why they took away my baby, my 18-year-old innocent baby. When I get up, I’m [always] hoping to see him brew some tea for me [and] he’s not there.”

Police said the suspect fled the area following the shooting. He’s described as a Black male, wearing a baseball hat, a two-toned (light-dark) hooded jacket, dark pants, and white shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 519-570-9777, extension 8191 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-847 or online at www.waterloocrimestoppers.com.