An Edmonton teenager wanted for two separate murders in the Greater Toronto Area spent weeks evading a Canada-wide manhunt before police caught up with him in Calgary on Thursday.
Isaiah Thomas Badger, 19, was located by the Calgary Police Service Fugitive Team on March 19 and arrested without incident. York Regional Police and Toronto Police both confirmed the arrest the following day. He now faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson causing damage to property.
Two Murders, Six Weeks Apart
The first killing happened on January 26 in Vaughan. Sergio Lopes, 65, of Richmond Hill, was shot multiple times at a commercial plaza near Winges Road and Rowntree Dairy Road in broad daylight around 1 p.m. Officers arrived to find him outside a business with multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to hospital and pronounced dead shortly after.
Thirty-two days later, on February 7, Chandan Kumar Raja Nandakumar, 37, of Brampton, was sitting alone in his vehicle in the Woodbine Shopping Centre parking lot in Etobicoke when he was shot multiple times. He died in hospital. Toronto Police Det. Sgt. Sandra Arruda called the killing "absolutely brazen."
Badger is the only suspect connected to both shootings.
A Second Suspect Was Already in Custody
Badger wasn't working alone in at least one of the killings. In the Vaughan shooting, police allege that Jacob Wallace, 19, of Mississauga, drove the getaway car. Wallace was arrested on March 5 not in Toronto, but in Moosonee, a remote town in northern Ontario by OPP officers. He faces the same charges as Badger.
It Took Agencies Across the Country to Find Him
Locating Badger was not a simple operation. York Regional Police credited police services from Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Abbotsford, Surrey, and both RCMP E and K Divisions for their role in tracking him down. The Canada-wide warrant had been active for weeks.
What Police Have Said About the Victims
Both shootings are believed to have been targeted. Police have been clear that neither Lopes nor Nandakumar had any involvement in criminal activity before their deaths. A motive has not been established and investigators have not publicly explained what connection, if any, existed between the two victims or why Badger is linked to both.
The Investigation Continues
Badger will face the court process on two counts of first-degree murder. Anyone with information is asked to contact the York Regional Police Homicide Unit at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7865 or at homicide@yrp.ca. Anonymous tips go to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or 1800222tips.com.
Sources:
York Regional Police — Update: One Suspect Arrested in Vaughan Homicide (March 9, 2026): https://www.yrp.ca/en/Modules/News/index.aspx?newsId=a8ad7d36-6692-4ed4-a5cf-ef9171431c7a Toronto Police Service — Homicide Investigation, Woodbine Shopping Centre: https://www.tps.ca/media-centre/news-releases/homicide-investigation-woodbine-shopping-centre-1/
