A teen has been shot in the abdomen outside Bendale Business and Technical Institute, a trades-based high school located near Midland and Lawrence Avenues.
The school, located at 1555 Midland Avenue in Scarborough, had been on lockdown since midday, but it was lifted at 2:30 p.m.
Police say the victim is a 16-year-old male who was shot about 11.45 a.m. after a physical altercation between several young men near the school's parking lot.
He was transported to Sunnybrook Hospital. The teenager's wounds are serious but not life-threatening and he is expected to pull through.
Police say the victim was found in the school's hallway near the pool. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots outside the building shortly before the victim was found.
"I heard three gunshots," says a man identifying himself only as Brian. "After the third gunshot, all these kids... about 15 kids... ran into the school. I said to my wife at the time, 'I think I heard gunshots.'"
A second victim, who was alert and sitting up on the stretcher that was transporting him, was later taken to hospital.
The suspect, in his late teens or early twenties, is described as a black male who is between five-foot-eight and five-foot-ten-inches tall, says Toronto Police Const. Wendy Drummond.
The suspect is possibly wearing a cloth cap and carrying a black handgun. It is not known if the suspect is a student at the school.
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair says police are also searching for three other suspects aside from the shooter.
The suspects did not flee into the school, Blair says.
There were numerous police cruisers at the school as well as several police dogs.
Bendale Business and Technical Institute is a high school run by the Toronto District School Board. It focuses on hands-on learning, personal management skills and career development.
The school board began a program this week to post police officers in some Toronto high schools. However, Bendale is not one of the schools taking part in the program, says Drummond.
David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute, Highbrook Learning Centre, Donwood Park Junior Public School and Bellemere Junior School were also under lockdown until mid-afternoon due to their proximity to the crime scene.
Students were let out from the schools and reunited with their parents after some tense hours inside the school auditoriums.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on (416) 222-TIPS.
