A 14-year-old boy has been charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder after a shooting at a Scarborough high school where an 18-year-old was killed Monday.
In a news release issued Tuesday, police identified the victim as Jahiem Robinson.
Police said that the shooting happened around 3:03 p.m. at David and Mary Thomson Collegiate, near Lawrence Avenue East and Midland Avenue.
According to the news release, a boy approached Robinson from behind and shot him before chasing after another 18-year-old.
The boy assaulted the second person and pointed the gun at him, police say, but the gun didn’t fire. The accused then ran off, investigators said.
Robinson was pronounced dead at the scene.
The accused, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested on Monday evening and charged.
He was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.
At a police news conference Tuesday afternoon, Insp. Hank Idsinga said video of the shooting appeared to show an “execution,” where the accused ran up behind Robinson and shot him at point blank range.
Idsinga would not talk about what the motive in the case might be, citing the ongoing court case — though he did say there was “some interaction” between the two prior to the shooting. Police have not yet recovered a gun in the case.
Deputy Chief of Police Myron Demkiw said officers are working closely with the city in an attempt to get to the root causes of gun violence among young people.
“The murder of a young person inside a school where kids should feel safe and secure is shocking to all of us,” he said.
Demkiw said that in 2022 alone, one third of homicides in the city have involved victims or accused under the age of 20.
“This fact is disturbing and demands that something must change,” he said.
At a news conference Tuesday before the arrest was announced, Toronto Mayor John Tory said that he and interim Toronto police Chief James Ramer are discussing how to reduce the presence of guns in the city.
“Schools are meant to be safe places,” Tory said.
“I know people may be scared by this. But I want people to know that I hear them and I see them. It is heartbreaking to me that the lives of young people in our city are being taken through gun violence.”
CBC/MS
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