Toronto police have charged a 13-year-old boy after he allegedly pointed a replica toy gun and demanded money from students at a middle school in Etobicoke.
The incident occurred at Lanor Junior Middle School, located in the area of Brown's Line and Evans Avenue, on Tuesday afternoon.
Police said an unknown number of students were in a bathroom when one of them pointed "what appeared to be a gun" and made a demand for money.
Officers arrived and recovered a replica toy gun. No injuries were reported.
On Wednesday, police announced that a 13-year-old boy is facing two counts of robbery with a weapon.
He cannot be identified under the terms of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Police said the boy is scheduled to appear in court next month.
Earlier Wednesday, the principal of the school provided more details about the incident in a letter to parents and caregivers.
Robert Nigro said a student brought a replica toy gun and showed it to other students in the boys' bathroom. One of the students, he said, reported it near the time of dismissal.
"This allegation was taken very seriously. As soon as I had this information my priority was student and staff safety. All students were in class and the hallways were clear," Nigro wrote.
He added that he confiscated the item and confirmed it was a toy.
"This was done in a matter of minutes, prior to the dismissal bell at the end of the day," Nigro wrote.
He said there was no threat to the safety of the school community as the toy gun was immediately seized. The school was not put into lockdown.
"My priority then shifted to focusing on the impacted students, ensuring they were supported and informing the parents of all the students involved in the incident," he wrote.
No further information will be released about the incident as it is being investigated by police, but Nigro said, "please rest assured we are taking every step, in line with our policies and procedures, to ensure our school remains a safe learning and work environment for students and staff."
The incident comes less than a week after a gun was fired inside a bathroom at an East York school during an altercation involving six people.
Police said a school outreach worker who intervened was injured when the bullet ricocheted off the wall.
Speaking to CP24 Breakfast, Mayor John Tory said the city, the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto police are all working together to address the violence in schools.
"It's very frustrating for me… what kind of circumstances would cause a young person even to bring a replica gun to school because, you know, if you think of how badly that could have ended," Tory said.
"We're trying to put a team effort to this to make sure we do whatever we can to stem these incidents."
At an unrelated announcement, Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce was asked about the recent incidents and said the provincial government has increased mental health support and hired more staff to ensure schools remain a safe environment for all.
"(We) continue to provide after-school programs for kids, particularly vulnerable children in our communities. We continue to have staffing within our school that are trained on how to deescalate and intervene," Lecce said.
"We're doing all of that because we're committed to the safety of children. And we're working with school boards and law enforcement partners to make sure that these kids, when they're in our schools, they remain safe."
Stephen Mensah, the executive director of the Toronto Youth Cabinet, described the recent incidents as disheartening but not shocking. He said investment in programs that improved the lives of youths in the city continues to be lacking.
Mensah also noted that Toronto has one of the worst youth unemployment rates.
"The conditions of young people continue to get worse and worse. It does need the city and all levels of government to really redouble their efforts to improve young people's conditions," he said.
Mensah added that many youths are feeling disheartened that they are not being prioritized.
"I've been calling for the city to match that same funding that we're going to give to the police to find prevention efforts that we should give to young people," said Mensah, who gave a deputation at the budget committee meeting this week.
He noted that the tentative budget does not address the needs of families. Mensah said there need to be more youth clubs with expanded hours and a summer youth employment program.
"Young people are fed up, and they are really hoping to see some type of meaningful investments into improving their conditions," Mensah said.
"We do need more mental health supports and programming at large to keep young people focus and keep them busy -- but busy in a productive way."
- with files from Beatrice Vaisman
