The security firm operating outside Drake’s Toronto mansion was established four months after a representative for the rap star said he was “freaked out” and required “heavy security outside” his home, according to public records reviewed by CBC News.
In September 2019, the city granted Drake an exemption to have extra tall fences built around his property in the posh Bridle Path neighbourhood. City officials were told that despite multiple calls to police, security was being “left in his hands.”
A shooting outside the mansion early Tuesday morning — which left a security guard seriously wounded — has brought the global superstar’s home security arrangements into focus.
The man who was attacked has not been identified and Drake has not spoken publicly about the incident.
A vehicle parked at the scene provides clues about the firm handling the rapper’s security.
The white Nissan Rogue stationed near the property’s front gates bears the name Jungle Lion Security. A neighbour and another man who works at a nearby property both told CBC the vehicle is parked there around the clock.
A vehicle bearing the name Jungle Lion Security is seen parked outside the front gates of rapper Drake’s Toronto property in the prestigious Bridle Path neighbourhood. (Thomas Daigle/CBC)
‘Everyone knows where he sleeps’
Provincial company records obtained by CBC show Jungle Lion Security was incorporated on Jan. 30, 2020.
About four months before the security company was formed, a representative of an architecture firm then hired to work on Drake’s property laid out the rapper’s need to have guards on duty 24 hours a day in a public meeting with city councillors.
At the time, Drake obtained an exemption from the City of Toronto to have a taller-than-standard fence installed around his newly-built mansion. The application included a request to build “fencing, columns, security walls and gates (that would) exceed the height permitted by the bylaw, between 3.0 and 4.42 metres.”
“Everyone knows where he sleeps, where he eats and that has really freaked him out, us out, and we need heavy security outside,” Brad Rafauli, vice-president of Ferris Rafauli Architectural Design Build Group, told Toronto’s North York Community Council on Sep. 16, 2019.
Rafauli said the number of uninvited visitors — fans and “people who think they’re meeting the client” — at all hours is “very, very significant.”
He said police were frequently called to the property but “nothing is really done, so the security is really left in his hands,” referring to Drake.
In May 2009, Drake was reported to have been robbed at gunpoint after leaving a restaurant in Toronto’s Little Italy. The following year, he told the New York Times that he felt “unsafe” in the city “at all times.”
Police investigate shooting outside Drake’s Toronto mansion
Police are investigating the shooting of a security guard outside Drake’s mansion in Toronto’s Bridle Path neighbourhood but say it’s too early to know whether a feud with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar played a role.
Security vehicle linked to Drake himself
It’s not clear whether Jungle Lion Security employed the unidentified security guard who police said was injured early Tuesday morning in an apparent drive-by shooting.
Ontario Transportation Ministry records show the licence plate number associated with the Jungle Lion Security vehicle parked outside the mansion is registered to Drake himself, listed under his birth name, Aubrey D. Graham.
The vehicle features a Toronto phone number and the slogan “Canada’s #1 provider of security services.”
Multiple calls to that number were not answered and a voicemail message left on Wednesday was not returned.
Jungle Lion Security does not appear to have a website. A message sent on Tuesday to a LinkedIn account registered in the firm’s name was not returned. The company’s name does appear in a registry of private security firms published by Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General.
Drake, left, and Nessel (Chubbs) Beezer watch from the sidelines of the Toronto Raptors game against the Milwaukee Bucks in game 3 of the Eastern conference finals of the 2019 NBA Playoffs at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. (Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters)
Nessel Beezer is the only person named in the firm’s profile report, provided by the province’s Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery.
Known to Drake’s fans as Chubbs, Beezer is widely reported to be the rap star’s head of security. He has appeared with Drake in public and in the music video for the rapper’s 2013 hit, Hold On, We’re Going Home.
Provincial records show Beezer is also associated with multiple business ventures bearing the name Jungle Lion, including Jungle Lion Management, which operated the now-defunct Drake-affiliated downtown Toronto sports bar, Pick 6ix.
Jungle is also the name of a song by Drake from his 2015 album, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.
An aerial image shows Drake’s Toronto mansion after an overnight shooting that injured an unidentified security guard. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)
Several questions remain unanswered after shooting
A Toronto police spokesperson told CBC on Thursday morning that investigators had no update to provide on the case.
On Tuesday, the force said officers responded to a call at Drake’s address at about 2 a.m. after a security guard had been shot near a gate in front of the property.
“He was shot from a vehicle which then fled the scene,” the Toronto Police Service said in a media release. Earlier, a police source had described the incident as a drive-by.
Police said the victim was taken to hospital in serious condition. Investigators have since provided no update on the man’s condition.
Steve Summerville, a former Toronto police detective, told CBC Toronto’s Metro Morning that investigators will need to gather key details from the security firm.
The questions Summerville said police will be asking include whether guards “were on high alert,” and whether they were “provided any intelligence with respect to anticipated challenges.”
The Current19:28The beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar
A long-running feud between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar has spiralled into accusations of pedophilia and sex trafficking. We unpack the beef — and the speculation about whether a shooting at Drake’s Toronto mansion this week is related.
Drake has been embroiled in an escalating musical feud with California-based rapper Kendrick Lamar.
Toronto police Insp. Paul Krawczyk said on Tuesday he was aware of the beef, but that it was too early for investigators to establish a motive for the attack.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
