Toronto's youth firearm arrests up 161% in 2 years, new data shows

Youth firearm arrests in Toronto have skyrocketed by 161 per cent over the past two years, new data shows, and police say the uptick is happening as gangs increasingly look to recruit young people. 

From January 1 to July 7, 2022, there were 41 youth firearm arrests, while the same period this year saw 107, according to police data updated this week.

Meanwhile, the number of adult firearm arrests in the city has risen two per cent over the last two years. In 2022, from Jan. 1 to July 7, there were 410 adult firearm arrests, while the same period this year saw 418.

Toronto Police Deputy Chief Robert Johnson said at a news conference on June 27 that gang violence is partly to blame for gun violence in the city. 

"It is troubling," he said. "When it's focused on a certain area, we have to ask ourselves: Why is it happening there and also who is involved? Why is it that we are finding young people more and more involved in this? I think ... it's gang turf warfare. And they are recruiting and engaging kids."

There have been seven shootings in Toronto in the past six days — two of them fatal, resulting in the city's 45th and 46th homicides of the year. 

On July 6, a 28-year-old man was shot and killed at a Scarborough gas station near Warden Avenue and Ellesmere Road at about 10:20 p.m. On July 8, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed at a Parkdale apartment building near Jameson Avenue and King Street W. shortly after midnight. Two boys, 16 and 17, have been charged with second-degree murder in the boy's death.

In the latest shooting, shortly after 4 a.m. on Thursday, a man was critically injured after a vehicle was shot at repeatedly, near the corner of Oakdale Road and Finch Avenue West, leaving it riddled with bullet holes.

In the last week in Toronto, police say they have seized nine guns and arrested 15 suspects, including four youth, as well as laid 79 charges.

At the news conference late last month, Johnson said the vast majority of guns used in shootings in the city, between 85 to 90 per cent, are coming from the U.S., primarily the states of Ohio, Florida, Texas, and Michigan. 

Most of the shootings are targeted and isolated, said police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer.

'Money is going to the wrong places': advocate

Marcell Wilson, founder and president of the One by One Movement, an anti-violence organization, said the recent spike in gun crime is concerning.

"It's definitely extreme and troublesome but not something that we are shocked by, unfortunately," Wilson said.

Wilson said government gun buy-back programs and enhanced policing are not helping. Instead, supports to lift communities, especially children, out of poverty are critical. He said investments are needed to thwart this latest spike and prevent future ones.

"There's a lot of money out there to tackle the issue, but the problem is the money is going to the wrong places and to the wrong things," he said

"We need the decision-makers to listen and stop trying to tell the experts, tell the people who are going through this, what they need in order to fix this."

Wilson said there needs to be an "acute focus on prevention" to deal with gun violence.

Police say they are working with agencies to identify root causes of the gun violence and that addressing gun crime is a top priority for the service.

"We are deploying resources strategically to address these violent crimes, and working collaboratively with residents, community leaders and agencies to build relationships and co-develop solutions to gun crime," said Sayer.

City must invest more in youth, says advocate

Stephen Mensah, executive director of the Toronto Youth Cabinet, the official youth advocacy body to the city, said on Thursday that "purposeful disinvestment" in vulnerable communities has led to a "shattered sense of safety" in the city.

With the support of the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board, Mensah said the organization has been calling on the mayor and city council to invest in more youth spaces and recreationally programming and to set up a youth employment program to enable young people to find meaningful work.

"The rise in violence we've seen being perpetrated by youth in our communities, will not be effectively addressed through downstream approaches of policing first. Only an upstream, community-driven response will be successful and has proven to be effective," he said.

Mensah added that the organization has learned, partly through its town halls, that young people have one message for the city: "Enough is Enough! We should not live in communities with overwhelming poverty and violence, we deserve to live in communities with a bounty of opportunity and resources."

He added that all levels of government must work together to improve the socio-economic status of young people.

A spokesperson for Mayor Olivia Chow said in a statement on Thursday that the mayor is "deeply saddened" by the recent violence and lives lost in Toronto in the past few days. 

"The increase in gun violence is unacceptable," the spokesperson said.

"The mayor is in regular contact with police, residents, community partners and other orders of government, working to make communities safer and support community well-being. There is much more work to be done to curb the recent gun violence we have seen," the spokesperson added.

"The mayor believes the best way to prevent violence is to support people and communities. When young people are empowered, learning new skills, finding employment, and connecting with their peers they choose a different path."