Gazette Staff
June 15th, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
A 12-year-old boy has been charged in connection with an early-morning hit-and-run in East York on Monday that injured a Toronto police officer and that is also linked to a shooting, investigators say.
The boy faces seven charges including attempted murder, theft of a motor vehicle and assaulting an officer, police said in a post on social media.
Established in 1834, it was the first local police service created in North America and is one of the oldest police services in the English-speaking world.
Emergency crews responded to calls about a shooting near Mortimer and Donlands avenues in East York around midnight Monday, a Toronto paramedics spokesperson said. A youth was taken to hospital with injuries that weren’t life-threatening.
At about the same time, officers responded to a call about a vehicle theft in the area of Donlands Avenue and O’Connor Drive.
Authorities said they tried to stop a vehicle and shot at it before the driver hit an officer and fled the scene, police said. A Toronto police officer was taken to hospital with serious injuries, which are not considered life threatening, according to the police post.
After police found the vehicle again, the driver was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, as well.
Three people — two 12-year-olds and a 13-year-old — were in the vehicle, which was stolen.
Four police officers — two each in two police vehicles — tried to stop the driver of the stolen vehicle. The driver tried to flee, during which “there was contact made with a police officer and that vehicle. Multiple shots then fired at the stolen vehicle. The driver took off and abandoned the car at Floyd and Donlands avenues a short distance away before being arrested on foot later.
One youth who was in the car is still at large.
The boys will not be identified due to their age. They will be punished and will eventually be released. Is this incident the first step for a career criminal? Where were the parents. What are the chances that this is a single parent situation
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I thought journalist were supposed to be unbiased. Clearly, you display bias against single parents with your final comment in the article about the officer who was hit. Where is the evidence that single parents have less control or are not as good parents as two parents. I think you should edit your article and remove that last comment.. Your comments are not the work of a professional journalist.
Editor’s note: I’m not sure you understand what bias is. Just because you don’t like the phrasing doesn’t mean it is biased. The fact is – many of you young people raised by a sing;e parent become social problems. Not all – but many. The 12 year old who was arrested for attempted murder and the 14 year old who was charged with a serious crime.
Delinquency Rates: Studies drawing on data from the International Youth Survey and the Department of Justice Canada indicate that delinquent behaviors have historically been more prevalent among youth from single-parent families compared to those living with both parents.
Primary Drivers: Academic and sociological consensus suggests that socio-economic status and neighborhood disadvantages are much stronger predictors of youth crime involvement than family structure alone.Research establishes a strong correlation between growing up in a fatherless home and an increased risk of juvenile delinquency and adult incarceration.
Research establishes a strong correlation between growing up in a fatherless home and an increased risk of juvenile delinquency and adult incarceration.
Department of Justice Canada Single-parent families, economic disadvantage, and youth crime: What the researcher found. As social control agents for youth, are single-parent families as effective as two-parent families? Brandon University has the data. It is extensive. Do your own research.
The data exists.
The author of this article is a card carrying Liberal. Enough said
Editor’s note
Not a card carrying Liberal but certainly of a liberal bent of mind.
You however are, I believe, a card carrying Tory and I am just fine with that.
Get a grip.
When the “Editor’s Note” is four times as long as the comment, then we know that we have a serious problem. This whole construct ruins the commenting section and insinuates the Editor into the conversation as some sort of unwanted Old Testament judge. The practice is highly offensive.