Four injured in ‘brazen’ North York shooting

Daylight incident leaves 12-year-old bystander in critical condition

A 12-year-old boy is in critical condition after he was hit with a stray bullet in a “brazen” daylight shooting in North York on Saturday afternoon.

Three other people were injured in the shooting, including a 17-year-old boy who is in lifethreatening condition. The other two victims, both men, are stable. Interim Toronto police Chief James Ramer said the shooting has “all the hallmarks” of being gang-related, but he couldn’t say definitively if that is the case.

“Just a brazen shooting, a callous disregard,” Ramer told reporters outside 25 Stong Crt., a 13-storey apartment building near Jane Street and Finch Avenue West. The shooting started in the building’s parking lot.

The 12-year-old was a bystander, Ramer said. He had been shopping with his mother, who was unharmed.

“It’s disgraceful that this 12year-old boy was shot,” he said. “We’re fortunate there’s only been that innocent victim, given all the people that are out here today.”

Police were called to the area at 2:20 p.m. after receiving multiple reports of gunshots. Upon arrival at the scene, officers found the 12-year-old on the west side of Jane Street and started performing first aid before he was transferred to hospital.

Describing what police had learned of the shooting, Ramer said two vehicles arrived at the building’s parking lot, and two men, both armed with semi-automatic handguns, got out of the first vehicle and ran toward the second, firing their weapons.

The shooters chased the second vehicle outside the parking lot, shooting continuously, and then got back in their own vehicle, fleeing north on Jane Street.

“We located up to 30 rounds in the parking lot,” Ramer said.

The second vehicle drove to an address on Driftwood Avenue, where the three victims got out and collapsed, Ramer said. All three were transported to hospital. There is no information on the suspect vehicle.

A 25-year-old resident of the building said he was sitting in his ninth-floor apartment watching a video on his phone when he heard the gunshots outside.

“It went on for quite a bit, like 10 or 15 seconds,” said the man, who declined to give his name.

He said he had his window open because Saturday was such a nice day.

“It felt so close by,” he said. “It feels pretty scary that anyone from this building could have walked out right then.”

The man, who has lived in the building since he was a child, said the area has always felt very safe to him and he had never seen anything like this at Stong Court.

Toronto is on pace to set a record for shooting incidents this year, eclipsing the record set last year.

As of Nov. 2, there have been 418 shooting incidents in 2020, 10 more than at this point last year, according to Toronto police statistics.

Police ask anyone with information to contact Toronto police or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).