Toronto police have identified a suspect in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Manners, CTV News has learned.

But the suspect, believed to be a teenaged boy, remains in hiding and police have not released his name, reported CTV's Jim Junkin.

Manners died on Wednesday from a single gunshot wound to the chest, on the second floor of C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute.

Toronto Police Detective Sergeant Chris Buck has warned people in the victim's Jane-Finch neighbourhood not to hide the shooter, and called for anyone with information to contact police.

  • The victim's family has set up a trust fund through TD Bank, to raise money for the boy's funeral costs and burial. Donations can be made by visiting any branch and using the account number 189126322122.

Manners' mother, Lorraine Small, grieved the loss of her son during a candlelight vigil Thursday, and said his killer would face justice.

"I'm very angry. Jordan was everything that I lived for. I love all my kids but Jordan had something. Jordan had something," she said.

"I've lost my life. You're out there and what you've got coming to you is going to be worse than what you gave my son."

Roughly 500 people gathered for the sombre vigil to remember Manners.

Toronto Mayor David Miller said he attended the memorial to mourn the young man described by those who knew him as kind, athletic and a pleasure to be around.

Miller called Wednesday's high school shooting a heartbreaking tragedy, and said the key to ending such incidents is a complete ban on handguns.

"It's a tragedy," Miller said Friday.

"I was at the vigil last night. Just to see his friends and schoolmates and his family, it's incredibly emotional and it's the kind of thing we want to prevent ever happening again," Miller said.

He said Toronto has put more police officers on the streets to combat gangs and guns and has invested in communities in the city where gun violence is prevalent.

"The one piece we haven't been able to get at is getting the guns off the street," Miller said.

"And that requires federal action, requires them to close the loopholes that allow some people to own handguns, and it requires action to prevent guns coming across the border from the U.S."

Miller said current laws make handgun ownership illegal, but provide loopholes for target shooters and gun collectors to legally own the firearms.

He called on the federal government to close those loopholes, but also said the flow of guns from the U.S. needs to be stopped. Miller said roughly half of the illegal handguns seized in Toronto are found to have been stolen from collectors, while the other half are smuggled in from the U.S.

"You know, we've invested billions in airport security. It's time to pay the same attention to the border," Miller said.

"The guns coming from the U.S. are a significant border security issue. I've had a meeting with American mayors who are trying to fight illegal guns, and I think it's time collectively to say that we have to just say no to handguns, they're designed for one purpose only, and that's to shoot and kill people."

Family members mourn

Jordan's aunt and uncle told CTV's Canada AM they were grateful for the support as they struggle with the boy's death.

"We're still going through it. We still are having to process and we still can't believe that a life has been taken away from us," said Louisa Manners.

"There's a light that has been dimmed in our family. Jordan was the youngest of his siblings, and someone has decided that they wanted to take his life."

She described her nephew as a role model for the community.

"His friends loved him, the community loved him. He was 15 years old but at 15 years old he was a role model for a lot of the children in the community," she said.

Jordan's uncle, Gregory Leslie, agreed Manners set an example for those around him.

"He had all the traits you would want in a young man, especially growing up in a community like Jane and Finch," Leslie said.