Three get life for Toronto gang shooting

TORONTO, July 16 (UPI) -- Three Toronto men in their 20s began serving life sentences Thursday for a gang-related drive-by shooting that killed an innocent man and injured another.

The jury trial ended with all three defendants lashing out with their fists and shouting claims of innocence Wednesday, the National Post reported.

Gang leader Tyshan Riley, 26, Philip Atkins, 26, and Jason Wisdom, 23, were convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder relating to a March 2004 incident in which two men were shot in their car while stopped at an intersection.

Each of the men also was convicted of committing murder for the benefit of a criminal organization, the newspaper said.

Prosecutors said the accused were in a turf war with another gang in the city's east end. "They were up there hunting what they believed to be rival gang members and shooting at them with no remorse," Detective Sgt. Dean Burks said.

The life sentence stipulates no parole for 25 years, and concluded what the Post said was the most expensive prosecution of gang members in Canadian history. No cost was published.