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BREAKING: Young Male Shot at Toronto High School

by Rob Walker | September 16, 2008 at 08:38 am

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Unconfirmed reports are of a 17-year-old male was shot in either the abdomen or chest at an East-end Toronto high school and has been transported to hospital in critical condition.

The school is currently in lockdown while police search the area, there is no information yet on whether the shooter is still in the school or who they are.

Update 2:40pm EST - Police are searching a nearby park for two black men in their early 20's after getting reports from witnesses of two men fitting that description, one possibly carrying a sawed-off shotgun running from the school.

A man has been shot in the abdomen at Bendale Business and Technical Institute, a trades-based high school located near Midland and Lawrence Avenues.

The school, located at 1555 Midland Avenue, is currently on lockdown.

Police say they don't yet know if the injured person is a student or a member of the school's staff, says Const. Tony Vella. However, reports from the scene indicate the victim is a 17-year-old male.

A high school in the city’s east end is locked down after a student was shot in the building.

Toronto police confirmed that a shooting took place at Bendale Business and Technical Institute on Midland Ave., north of Lawrence Ave E., just before noon.

This comes hot on the heels after 27 police officers were assigned to patrol various schools in Toronto. There was a damning report last year on school violence in Toronto, which described students being pistol-whipped and a stabbing just last week.

Police say they found a 17-year-old male victim inside the school, lying in a pool of blood in the main hallway, but are hesitant to say that the shooting happened inside the high school.

According to Toronto police Const. Wendy Drummond, the male victim was shot in either the abdomen or the chest and suffered what she described as "life-threatening injuries."

He has been taken to Sunnybrook Hospital.

"At this time we don't have any information on the victim," said Drummond.

Police are looking for one suspect described as "a male, black, 18 to 19 years old, approximately five-foot-eight, and ... last seen going [through] Donwood Park onto Norbury Crescent."

A second suspect, with a similar physical description, is also being sought.

Police also said they do not believe either suspect is a student at the high school.