Teenager dies after 'exchange of gunfire' with Toronto police: SIU

Adam Carter · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 12:36 PM EDT | Last Updated: 15 minutes ago

A 16-year-old lad from Toronto died successful infirmary Tuesday greeting aft being changeable by constabulary officers successful North York during a gunfight connected Sunday night, the province's constabulary watchdog says.

In a quality merchandise issued Tuesday, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said a Toronto constabulary serviceman stopped an Infiniti car implicit a Highway Traffic Act infraction successful the country of Sheppard Avenue W. and Bathurst Street astatine astir 11 p.m. that night.

"There was an speech of gunfire during which 2 constabulary officers discharged their firearms," the SIU said successful the release. "The antheral was struck and was taken to infirmary wherever helium passed distant this morning."

In an interrogation with CBC News, SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette said a weapon was recovered astatine the scene, and officials person reviewed body-worn camera footage of the incident.

"At the aboriginal stages it does appear, based connected video evidence, that it was the 16-year-old who fired astatine officers, and past the 2 officers … changeable the youth," she said.

The SIU says determination are 2 Toronto constabulary officers who are considered the taxable of their investigation, alongside 2 constabulary witnesses and different civilian witnesses.

WATCH | Surveillance footage captures shooting, shows others astatine country moving for cover: 

Bodycam footage appears to seizure shooting

CBC Toronto has obtained a information of what appears to beryllium assemblage camera footage of the incident, which was filmed arsenic it was played connected a machine monitor.

In the footage, an serviceman is asking radical to measurement retired of the car. A pistillate gets retired of the backmost spot — and that's erstwhile a antheral who was sitting adjacent to her appears to propulsion retired a handgun from the level of the conveyance and starts firing astatine the officer.

Officers tin past beryllium seen firing backmost and yelling "take cover" portion radical scream. 

The video, which appears to past displacement guardant successful time, cuts to the serviceman trying to propulsion a idiosyncratic covered successful humor retired of the vehicle. It past cuts again and appears to amusement an serviceman giving CPR to a idiosyncratic connected the crushed extracurricular of the car.

Denette said determination were six radical successful the car erstwhile it was initially stopped for a missing beforehand licence plate. The SIU's forensic investigators are present getting acceptable to bash a "deep analysis" of the vehicle, which has "numerous" slug holes, she said.

"Forensics volition person their enactment chopped retired conscionable trying to find the way the projectiles took, and whether those projectiles were travelling either entering oregon exiting the vehicle," she said.

"There's a batch of grounds to spell through."

Toronto constabulary laic charges

In an connection sent to CBC News, Toronto constabulary said 5 radical were arrested astatine the scene, including a 20-year-old antheral from Toronto, an 18-year-old pistillate from Toronto, and 3 pistillate youths — 2 from Brampton and 1 from Toronto.

Toronto constabulary accidental they laid charges of possessing a loaded firearm without a licence and occupying a centrifugal conveyance with a firearm, alongside failing to comply with the presumption of a merchandise bid for 1 of the youths.

Multiple investigators person been assigned to the case, and a post-mortem introspection is being scheduled, according to the quality release.

Anyone with video grounds of what happened who has not yet spoken to investigators is being asked to interaction the SIU.