Boy, 15, dead after shooting in York Saturday night, Toronto police say

A 15-year-old boy is dead after a shooting in York on Saturday night, Toronto police said.

The shooting happened near Emmett Avenue and Jane Street around 10 p.m., police said in a post on X on Saturday. 

Officers responded to reports of a shooting in the area. When they arrived, they found a male outdoors with a gunshot wound, police said. 

He was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead, police said.

The homicide unit is investigating. 

Det.-Sgt. Phillip Campbell said there is no suspect information at this time, and people can expect a large police presence in the area as officers are still gathering evidence and speaking to witnesses.

"We can understand how concerning incidents like this are to members of the community. We want to assure the public that we are dedicating all necessary resources to this investigation," Campbell told reporters on Sunday. 

He said it is too early in the investigation to say if the shooting was targeted or connected to any previous shootings. 

When asked if the public should be worried about their safety, acting Supt. Keri Fernandes said the public always has the right to be concerned. 

"The investigators are in the early stage of their investigation so they can't negate or positively identify where the suspects went," she told reporters on Sunday. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

In an email to CBC, Toronto police said the 911 call centre received approximately six calls about the shooting, and the first caller was on hold for almost seven minutes.

"The first caller waited in the queue for 6 minutes and 43 seconds before a calltaker picked up. Emergency responders would then have been dispatched," police said in an email.

That kind of wait time is "disgusting," said John Sewell, co-ordinator of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition.

"When you're phoning an emergency service for something that's a serious emergency, you want to be dealt with quickly," he told CBC News.

"Being put on hold for seven minutes is not acceptable."

'When is this going to come to an end?' 

Crime Prevention Advocate Sharon Joseph said she is concerned about the number of crimes involving youth in Toronto.

"Why is this still happening on a constant basis?" she told reporters at the scene Sunday.

"The minute we get one step ahead, it's like we get 10 steps backwards."

Joseph, who lives just down the street from where the shooting happened, said she was at home Saturday evening.

She said that despite calls from other community members asking her to witness the aftermath, she couldn't bring herself to go outside.

"It sickens me," she said. "When is this going to come to an end?"

Saturday's shooting is the latest in a series of youth-related crimes in the Greater Toronto Area.  

Last Friday, two teen boys were seriously injured in Bluffers Park in Scarborough. Police arrested two suspects in connection with the incident, but said another suspect remains outstanding. 

On May 29, a 14-year-old boy was arrested after what police called a "sadistic and cowardly" stabbing that left a woman dead in Pickering.

The City of Toronto has put forward a summer safety plan on Tuesday to prevent youth violence from rising this summer.

Mayor Olivia Chow said the safety plan will help 3,000 young people and more than 500 families participate in summer recreation and youth violence prevention programs.