A 'brazen daylight shooting': 16-year-old boy was fatally shot in Scarborough during fight, say police

Toronto police are appealing for witnesses and information as they deploy a “significant amount of resources” into the investigation of the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy in Scarborough on Saturday afternoon.

The incident happened in the parking lot of Glendower Plaza in the L'Amoreaux neighbourhood, near Birchmount Road and Glendower Circuit, south of Finch Avenue East.

Footage from the scene shows that the shooting appears to have occurred in front of a convenience store.

Speaking to the media at the scene on Saturday evening, Det. Sgt. Aaron Akeson, of Toronto Police Service’s (TPS) Homicide and Missing Persons Unit, said that they received several calls for a shooting in that area at around 1:50 p.m.

A teenage boy subsequently turned up at the hospital with gunshot wounds and in life-threatening condition. He died there a short time later, TPS said in a follow-up post on X.

The teen is Toronto’s 37th homicide victim of the year.

“Our belief is that an altercation took place in this plaza that resulted in the shooting and that there are two shooters involved,” Akeson said, noting that the two suspects are described as Black males, one of whom was last seen wearing a red hat, a red shirt, and tan shorts, while the other wore a black hoodie.

He added that one of the suspects fled the area in a white SUV, while the other left on foot.

So far, investigators have also not indicated what might be the motive for this deadly shooting or exactly what circumstances lead up to it.

Akeson did say that he believes that the shooting was targeted, although he couldn’t say with complete certainty that the victim was the intended target.

Det. Sgt. Aaron Akeson, of Toronto Police Service’s (TPS) Homicide and Missing Persons Unit, speaks to the media on June 15 outside the scene of a homicide in Scarborough.

 

Store employee says he heard gunshots, saw teen bleeding on the ground 

Hara Unni, who started working at convenience store in the plaza where the shooting took place two days ago, told CTV News Toronto that he initially heard what he thought to be knocking on the door of the store, but then realized that the noise he'd heard was actually gun shots after seeing a boy who he described as about 15 or 16 years old bleeding and asking for help on the ground outside.

Unni said that he heard roughly four shots.

He also said that a number of people from the community came to the victim's aid and took him to the hospital.

 Police appeal for public's assistance 

At this point in the investigation, Toronto police are working to piece together exactly what happened and are asking for the public’s help to do so.

“This is a densely populated area. This was a brazen daylight shooting and an event like this has a serious impact a significant impact on the community and the surrounding area,” Akeson said.

“One of the most important things we can do is speak to people. People that were in the area. People that saw and or heard what happened. Anyone that has video surveillance or video from their dash cameras that may have been driving through the area at the time. It's important for you to get in touch with us.”

He also urged the suspects to turn themselves in to police.

Anyone with further information is asked to contact Toronto police at 416-808-4200 or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

With files from CTV News Toronto's Mike Walker.