Two teenagers have been charged with attempted murder and a range of gun-related charges after a 15-year-old student was shot dead outside a high school in northwest Toronto on Thursday, police said.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon, the police insp. Norm Proctor said two 17-year-olds were arrested and charged.
“Other charges may be pending depending on where this investigation takes us,” he said. The two accused cannot be named under the Juvenile Criminal Law Act.
“It’s a brazen offense, there’s no doubt about it,” Proctor told reporters. “It’s alarming. One shooting is too many, but any shooting on campus or involving a school or youth raises the alarm bells even louder.”
The victim of the shooting, which took place just after noon on Thursday at the Weston Collegiate Institute near Pine Street and MacDonald Avenue, remains in the hospital in “critically stable” condition, Proctor said.
Police say the two suspects pulled into the school parking lot in a gray 2022 Hyundai Elantra, and then the driver shot the victim multiple times in the torso from inside the car.
Vehicle stolen in carjacking, police say
The suspects then fled, and the vehicle was later found in Peel, Proctor said. Investigators determined the car had been stolen in a carjacking in that region earlier that day, he added. With the help of Peel Police, the teenagers were identified next to an “interesting address” where they were arrested Friday morning, police say.
The two teenagers are also charged with possession of property valued at over $5,000.
Proctor said a loaded 9mm handgun was seized at the scene of the arrests. Bullet casings from a 9mm cannon were found at the scene of the shooting, he said, adding that police currently have no evidence that the weapons officers seized were the weapon used.
Police say they do not believe the two suspects attended the school in question. Proctor could not comment on any links to organized crime or links between the victim and his alleged attackers.
“We’re still going through the information and trying to uncover the evidence again to see where it takes us,” he said.
School staff helped injured student
Police are not aware of any prominent suspects, but Proctor warned the investigation is ongoing.
The inspector also commended the school staff who stepped in to help after the wounded victim ran back to the school.
Toronto District School Board spokesman Ryan Bird said Thursday that officials are thinking of the injured student and that the board is seeking support for students who need it.
“Some of our staff jumped in right away and honestly took care of the student who was very obviously injured and tried to keep him as comfortable as possible until paramedics could arrive,” Bird said.
