A 12-year-old boy is facing an attempted murder charge after he allegedly struck a Toronto police officer with the stolen vehicle he was driving in East York.
Officers responded to the area near Donlands and O’Connor Drive just after 1 a.m. for an auto theft call.
A spokesperson for the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) told reporters that two police cruisers attempted to box in the vehicle on the Leaside Bridge. As the driver allegedly fled the scene, he struck an officer who was outside of his vehicle.
The officer fired his weapon “multiple” times to stop the car, which was also carrying one other 12-year-old and a 13-year-old. The SIU couldn’t say if the shots were fired before or after the officer was struck.
The 12-year-old suspect and his passengers later abandoned the vehicle at Donlands and Floyd avenues. The driver was apprehended on foot at Donlands and Mortimer avenues. The SIU said he has been transported to hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries. It’s unclear if he was shot.
“So, it’s not yet confirmed the nature of the boy’s injuries. Now the injury could be from a bullet, could be a graze, could be glass from the vehicle. We don’t yet know that, but what we do know is it’s non-life-threatening injuries at this point,” Kristy Denette, SIU spokesperson, said.
Police said the officer who was hit by the vehicle was transported to hospital with serious injuries, but Denette said he has since been released.
One of the occupants of the vehicle was apprehended, while the other is outstanding, she added.
Denette said bullets did strike the stolen vehicle in an attempt to stop it, though its unclear exactly how many shots were fired.
The boy, who cannot be named under the terms of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is also charged with theft of a motor vehicle, possession of property over $5,000, dangerous operation, fail to stop for police, assaulting a peace officer and leaving the scene of an accident.
Five investigators, including three forensic investigators and a collision reconstructionist have been assigned to the case.
The SIU is an arms-length agency called in to investigate whenever police are involved in an incident that results in death, serious injury, allegations of sexual assault, and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
