Replica firearm located, two people detained, two outstanding after gun call at Scarborough school
Two people have been detained and two other remain outstanding after Toronto police responded to a reports of a person with a gun inside a Scarborough high school.
At 1 p.m. today, Toronto police were called to David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute, which is north of Lawrence Avenue East and east of Midland Avenue.
The east-end high school, along with the neighbouring Donwood Junior Public School were subsequently placed in lockdown.
A short time later, four other nearby schools, Lloyd Roberts Junior Public School, Charles Gordon Senior Public School, Edgewood Public School, and Northern College, were placed under a hold and secure order as a precaution.
Students and staff at all of the affected schools have since been let out.
No injuries have been reported.
Speaking with the media late Thursday afternoon outside David and Mary Thomson Collegiate, Acting Insp. Duty Insp. Jason Albanese said police provided an "extremely robust response to this pressing matter."
He said officers did a systemic search of the school where they looked for any persons of interest or property related to this incident.
"I can tell you that we have located one replica firearm inside the school that we believe is connected to this and we have two people that we have detained at the moment," he said, adding he cannot say much more as the investigation is still "very active."
Two other people wanted in connection with this incident are outstanding, he added.
Albanese said the two individuals in custody are "affiliated to the school in some way" and that "multiple people" are involved in this incident.
Toronto police also closed a number of roads in the area of Brockley Drive and Treewood Street as they investigated.
This latest situation is one of number of incidents that have occurred at Toronto school in recently weeks.
On Oct. 31, an 18-year-old man was killed following a shooting outside Scarborough's Woburn Collegiate.
Two weeks later on Nov. 14, a stabbing inside Scarborough's Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute left a 17-year-old student with critical injuries.
A day after that incident, Toronto Mayor John Tory said he would meet with various stakeholders to discuss school violence. That meeting was held on Monday morning.
Toronto police said they're also taking these "ongoing situations" "very seriously" and are working "very diligently" to solve the problem.
"So obviously, we have had a significant number of high profile incidents at high schools over the last few weeks, and several months. This is a very concerning matter for the Toronto Police Service as well as the Toronto District School Board," Albanese said. "Administrators are here, the police and the administrators behind the scenes are working diligently to you know, come up with strategies to prevent this ongoing, these ongoing situations from happening."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway.
BREAKING Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Man banned from owning animals after fatal Calgary dog attack
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
Have you been removed from your family doctor’s patient list for visiting an Ontario walk-in clinic?
Some Ontarians are expressing frustration after they said that they were removed from their family doctor’s patient list for visiting a walk-in clinic in a process being called “de-rostering.”
East-end Ottawa family dealing with massive rat infestation
Residents in Ottawa’s Elmridge Gardens complex are dealing with a rat infestation that just won’t go away. Now, after doing everything they can to try to fix the issue, they are pleading with the city to step in and help.