12-year

12-year-old boy driving stolen car charged, hospitalized after striking officer in East York: SIU

Investigators say police fired shots at vehicle, youth injured with non-life-threatening injuries

12-year-old driving stolen car charged and taken to hospital after striking officer: SIU

A 12-year-old boy has been hospitalized and is facing charges, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says, after he was shot at by police while driving an allegedly stolen vehicle in East York early Monday.

Police initially said an officer was seriously injured in the incident as the driver attempted to get away, but the SIU said later Monday that he had been released from hospital.

The boy is facing several charges including attempted murder, theft of a motor vehicle, and assaulting an officer.

Officers were responding to a call about a stolen vehicle near Donlands Avenue and O'Connor Drive just after 1 a.m., Toronto police said in a post on social media.

At a news conference Monday, SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette said two police cruisers, each with two officers inside, attempted to stop the vehicle on the bridge and while doing so there was contact between the vehicles.

She said multiple shots were fired by one officer at the vehicle, which the SIU says was stolen. At some point, the same officer exited the cruiser and was struck by the vehicle, said Denette.

"We don't yet know the sequence of events," she said, when asked if the shots were fired before or after the officer was struck.

Denette said there were two other youths in the vehicle at the time of the incident, including another 12-year-old and a 13-year-old. One of them was apprehended while police are still searching for the third, she said.

The officer who was hit was taken to hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries, and has since been released, Denette said.

The driver was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, which Denette said remain serious.

Denette could not confirm whether the boy's injuries are from the shots fired, but said multiple projectiles hit the car the boy was driving.

"The injury could be from a bullet, could be a graze, could be glass from the vehicle. We don't yet know that," she said.

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The vehicle was abandoned at Floyd Avenue and Donlands Avenue, Denette said, and the driver was arrested on foot at Mortimer Avenue and Donlands Avenue.

Denette said the alleged theft of the vehicle, the shots fired, the collision and the arrest all happened within a three-kilometre radius.

The SIU investigates the conduct of officers in incidents that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault or the discharge of a firearm at a person.

The TTC is reporting several detours on routes in the area due to police activity Monday.