Community members hold hands as Pastor Carmen Lewis leads a prayer circle on June 6, 2024, after a mass shooting in Etobicoke that left two people dead.Sammy Kogan /The Globe and Mail
A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in what Toronto police have described as a random mass shooting that killed two men and left three others injured who had gathered outside a school following an evening soccer game earlier this month.
The teen, whose name is covered by a publication ban, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder, Toronto Police Detective Sergeant Phillip Campbell said at a news conference on Monday.
“The senseless acts of violence have resulted in the deaths of two innocent people and families who will forever be devastated by the loss of their loved ones,” he said.
The shooting happened in the parking lot of North Albion Collegiate Institute in Etobicoke, in the west end of Toronto, on June 2 just before 11 p.m.
Police say a group of men were gathered after a soccer game when a dark pickup truck arrived. Two suspects got out and began shooting at the men before fleeing in the truck, police said.
Investigators believe at least one other suspect remains at large, said Det. Sgt. Campbell. There is no known connection between the men and suspects, he said.
Prayer walk organized in west Toronto after shooting kills two
A 61-year-old man, identified by police as Delroy (George) Parkes of Vaughan, Ont., died shortly after arriving in hospital. A second person, identified by his family as Seymour Gibbs, 46, of Toronto died three days after the shooting. The other three victims went to hospital at the time with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
Just hours after the shooting, the teen was arrested in the area in connection with a stolen vehicle investigation, Det. Sgt. Campbell said, adding that the teen tried to flee from the stolen vehicle. He was ultimately located and arrested by officers.
Det. Sgt. Campbell said the vehicle is believed to be the same one that was used by suspects to drive up to the parking lot prior to the mass shooting. He said that to his knowledge, no firearms were found in the stolen vehicle itself.
The boy was charged and was scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
Toronto Police Superintendent Ron Tavener said it is “unbelievable” that a boy so young could be involved in this crime.
“Just thinking about a 14-year-old being involved in this type of crime is unbelievable,” he said. “There are a lot of questions here that need to be answered. This is a societal issue that we, as a community, as a province and as a country, need to be dealing with.”
He said the support, the outpouring and the help of community members who came forward to help police in this investigation is appreciated.
“This was somebody’s dad, somebody’s brother, somebody’s son. It’s a horrible, senseless act and it’s never an easy conversation,” he said.
Mr. Parkes and Mr. Gibbs are the city’s 34th and 35th homicide victims of the year.
Fatima Raza