A 12-year-old boy is being charged with attempted murder after a Toronto police officer was struck and injured on the Leaside Bridge. Investigators say the boy was behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle. The case is being examined by Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, the province's police watchdog, which described the very young age of the suspects as one of the most disturbing aspects of the investigation.
According to the SIU, four police officers, two in each of two cruisers, tried to stop the allegedly stolen vehicle on the Leaside Bridge. The driver tried to flee, and the SIU says there was some sort of contact between the vehicles before the stolen car sped off. The stolen vehicle had been reported at around 1:30, shortly before the events on the bridge.
The SIU says there were three occupants in the stolen vehicle, two 12-year-olds and a 13-year-old. A 12-year-old boy was apprehended on foot at Mortimer and Donlands Avenue and was arrested and taken to hospital by paramedics. Another occupant was also apprehended, while police are still searching for a third suspect.
Authorities said it was not confirmed exactly how the boy taken to hospital was hurt, noting it could have been from a bullet, a graze, or glass from the broken vehicle. They described his injuries as non-life-threatening. The Toronto police officer who was struck was also taken to hospital, but was treated and released.
The 12-year-old now faces a number of serious charges, including attempted murder and assault of a peace officer. The development came as the SIU continued to work several scenes connected to the incident, all of them within a roughly three-kilometre radius of the bridge.
The focus of the SIU investigation is the discharge of a firearm by a police officer and the collision. According to information provided at the scene, one officer discharged a firearm multiple times and multiple projectiles were recovered. Forensic investigators were examining the stolen car, which had been struck by projectiles, and a collision reconstructionist was mapping out the contact between the vehicle and the officer.
SIU spokesperson Kristy Dennett said investigators were still early in the process and could not yet confirm the sequence of events. They were reviewing evidence including body-worn camera and in-car camera footage in an effort to establish what happened and in what order, as the agency continued its work at the multiple scenes.