Police seek suspect after teen boy hurt in shooting at Kennedy subway station
Toronto police are seeking a suspect after a shooting at Kennedy subway station on Monday afternoon that left a teen boy injured.
Police officers from 41 Division were called to the station at 3:05 p.m. for a report of a shooting, according to Insp. Lori Kranenburg.
Officers did not find a victim or evidence of gunfire when they arrived, but about half an hour later, a 16-year-old boy called police to say he had been shot at the station and that he had made his way to a home.
Kranenburg said the boy appeared to have been grazed by a bullet on his stomach and was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police do not know if the suspect and victim knew each other. Kranenburg said police have not determined what led up to the shooting.
Kranenburg said the shooting didn't happen on the subway platform, but "towards the subway level."
She said police are appealing for witnesses and believe the station was "quite busy" at that time of day. Police have spoken to some witnesses already, she added.
"We believe there would have been other people present that witnessed this incident. And police would like to speak with you to get whatever information you have about what you saw today," she said.
A Toronto police vehicle is parked outside Kennedy subway station on Monday after a shooting injured a 16-year-old boy there. (Grant Linton/CBC)
The incident prompted the TTC to cut Line 2 subway service between Warden and Kennedy stations and to redirect buses out of Kennedy station to Warden station for about three hours. Buses picked up riders in front of Warden station.
Subway service between Warden and Kennedy stations and Kennedy station bus service resumed before 6 p.m.
The suspect is described as a male in his late teens or early 20s with average build and average height. It's not known in which direction he was headed after the shooting.
Kranenburg said the police work closely with the TTC to provide security on Toronto's transit system, but both the police and TTC need help from members of the public in gathering information about violent incidents.
"If you see something, say something. Toronto police responds very quickly to these incidents and we take them very seriously," she said.
The shooting comes after a number of violent incidents on TTC property in recent days:
On Sunday evening, a man in his 50s was stabbed in the torso in the bus bay area of Victoria Park subway station. Police are looking for a suspect in that incident. The victim is said to have serious injuries.
On Saturday evening, a police officer was taken to hospital after being allegedly assaulted at Kipling subway station. Police said another officer was hurt but did not require hospital treatment. The officers were assaulted when arresting a man accused of assaulting several people in the bus bay area.
Last Thursday morning, a man got into a dispute with other passengers on a TTC bus in Dufferin Street and Eglinton Avenue West area. He got off the bus, armed himself with bricks, returned to the bus and threw bricks at two passengers. One was hit in the head, suffering non-life threatening injuries. A man, 28, has been arrested in the incident.
TTC to release new safety report this week
The TTC said in a statement on Monday that it will release a report this week in advance of its Sept. 26 board meeting that will outline additional steps it plans to take to keep customers safe.
"All incidents that occur on the TTC are of great concern. We have an obligation to keep our employees and customers safe," the TTC said in the statement.
The transit agency said it has introduced several measures in recent months to improve safety, including more street outreach, security and mental health supports, more TTC special constables and more supervisors at stations. It added that it has an "enhanced partnership" with police that means more officers on patrol in the system.
"This important work continues," it added.
