The man arrested and charged in the Eaton Centre shooting was a young father wrapped up in gang violence, his father told the Star Monday.

Christopher Husbands, 23, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder after he turned himself into police at 2:20 a.m. Monday.

Toronto police said Husbands had been previously charged with an unrelated offence and was under house arrest and facing other charges.

Police said the shooting was not gang-related because it was more of a personal dispute, but they also confirmed that both the victim and gunman were involved in the same gang.

“Our investigation continues to suggest this is a targeted shooting and not a random act of violence against the public,” Det. Sgt. Brian Borg, the lead homicide investigator, said at a news conference Monday.

“There was one shooter and one gun,” he said. “Unfortunately, that gun inflicted a substantial amount of human damage.”

Police are not looking for other suspects, but Borg said the men were travelling with other people.

The two suspected gang-associated victims encountered the shooter in a case of “happenstance,” the detective said. “It was not a planned meeting.”

“I don’t think it was intended. I think they came across each other unfortunately in a very bad location.”

Police would not identify the gang that the shooter and the victim were affiliated with. Acting Deputy Chief Jeff McGuire said police don’t want to give credit to the gang by naming it.

Mayor Rob Ford, who attended the news conference with councillors Adam Vaughan and Kristyn Wong-Tam, thanked the Toronto police for “their quick work” and the citizens for their tips and leads to police.

“It’s been a terrible couple of days,” he said. “But this is the safest city in the world. I encourage people to come to this city.”

Husbands was born in Guyana and immigrated to Toronto in 2000.

Burchell Husbands, the accused’s father, said he’s terrified his family will face retaliation from opposing gang members — though he couldn’t identify who that might be.

“Right now the whole family’s scared,” he said. “We don’t know who’s going to come here just now.”

Burchell Husbands said his son doesn’t live with him and hasn’t since he was 18 and moved out of the family home in Regent Park.

Christopher Husbands, the second youngest of four siblings, followed his father to Toronto. Burchell Husbands came in 1993.

At the time of the shooting Christopher Husbands was living alone in the King and Bathurst Sts. area, his father said.

Christopher has a 5-year-old daughter with an ex-girlfriend, his father said. He said he’s not sure if they know yet about his son’s arrest.

Burchell Husbands said as a child his son was quiet and happy and got along well with his siblings.

At 15 or 16 years old, he started getting in fights at school and was known to police for possession of marijuana.

“He was in and out of trouble,” Burchell Husbands said. “I tried to beg him to keep out of trouble.”

He dropped out of high school and started running with gangs in Regent Park, Husbands said — though he was not sure which gang.

Two months ago, Christopher Husbands survived what his father believed was a gang attack by six people when he was stabbed more than 20 times.

“We get along,” Husbands said of his relationship with his son. “He still comes around and visits.”

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When asked what he’d want the public to know about his son, there was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

“He was a good guy coming up,” he said. “He was good.”

“Gang changed everything,” he said quietly.

MORE:Eaton Centre shooting victim mourned

The dead man, 24-year-old Ahmed Hassan, was known to police, authorities said. He is the city’s 21st homicide of the year.

MORE:Mapping the scene of the Eaton Centre shooting

He died instantly when the gunman opened fire around 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Hassan was born in Somalia and immigrated to Toronto with his family in the 1990s, according to Mohamed Gilao, director of Toronto-based Somali settlement services centre Dejinta Beesha. His family later moved to Edmonton.

A family friend, who did not want to disclose his name, said Hassan had recently returned to Toronto. He moved in with his grandmother and an aunt at their downtown home.

Toronto police believe a 23-year-old man in hospital in critical condition, with bullet wounds to his neck and chest, was also from the same gang and may have been targeted during the shooting as well.

A 13-year-old boy visiting from Port Hope was in fair condition Monday after suffering a gunshot would to his head.

Four others injured by gunshots were treated and released from hospital.

The mall, closed since police evacuated thousands who abandoned bags and food in their rush to safety, reopened Monday morning. Motorists forced to leave their vehicles in the centre parking lot can now pick them up, police said.

Starting Tuesday, people who fled the mall and left possessions behind can retrieve those items at 51 Division at 51 Parliament St. between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. until Friday.

Police have created a web page for the public to upload photos and videos. It is accessible by a link at the top of the Toronto Police Service home page or by visiting Torontopolice.on.ca/homicide/assist.

The homicide squad can be reached at 416-808-7400. If you do not wish to call the police directly, please call Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS or via the Crime Stoppers website at www.222tips.com.

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