Police ID 16-year-old shot and killed in downtown Toronto Airbnb rental

Toronto police have identified the victim in a fatal shooting at a condo near the city's waterfront as 16-year-old Yonadab Dar and said his suspected killer was a friend of the teen.

Dar was found inside an apartment unit on the 49th floor of 12 York Street with a gunshot wound after police and paramedics were called to one of the ICE condo buildings just before 6 p.m. Sunday, Det. Sgt. Mike Taylor of the Toronto Police Service told reporters at a news conference Monday morning. 

He was pronounced dead at the scene, Taylor said. 

A 19-year-old suspect from Toronto turned himself into police the same day. The man has been charged with second-degree murder. 

Investigators believe the shooting happened early Sunday morning but wasn't reported to police until that afternoon, Taylor said. He couldn't confirm whether police only became aware of the deadly incident after the accused turned himself in.

"It's a possibility that we're looking into at this point," he said.

Taylor said the victim and his suspected killer were friends but couldn't comment further on their relationship or what may have led to the shooting. He also couldn't say how many people were staying in the condo unit, which had been rented out short-term, at the time. 

On Monday morning, the police's marine unit was searching for a firearm in the waterfront area that was used in the shooting, Taylor said. Officers found the firearm they believe was used in the shooting a few hours later, a police spokesperson said. 

This is Toronto's sixth homicide of 2025. 

An email to residents from the company that manages the ICE condo buildings says Dar was staying in an Airbnb unit at the time of his death.

Police were also at the building last Friday to arrest someone at another Airbnb unit in the two highrise towers, but the two incidents are unrelated, management said.

Some area residents said it was disturbing that someone was killed so close to home, but said crime had become a common theme there. 

"There's no weekend, there's no days there's no police officer in this area," said Edward Celestial, who said he's lived in the waterfront communitty for about 20 years. 

Pramoud Kumar said he lives in the building next to the one where the shooting happened. 

"Something keeps happening here all the time, and that's been a challenge for us ... being in this area," he said.