TORONTO (CP) — High school students locked down for hours following the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old student were released Wednesday evening as police continued searching for a suspect and anguished parents awaited news of their children’s safety.
The students began exiting C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute and boarding Toronto transit buses shortly before 6 p.m., but police Chief Bill Blair said they would be brought to another nearby school before they would be free to go home.
The shooting at the north Toronto school occurred around 2:30 p.m. Officers received a call about a possible drowning, but arrived at the school to find a teenage boy in a corridor suffering from a single gunshot wound, prompting the lockdown.
Blair held a news conference outside the school at 5 p.m. — while the students were still locked down — and offered assurances to worried parents, saying officers had secured the school and were “on every floor and in every room.”
He appealed to students to remain calm.
Blair indicated the victim was rushed to hospital in grave condition but later died.
“A young man lost his life, a young student lost his life in the school,” he said.
“Students have a right to a safe school environment. It is shocking that such a crime could take place in our schools.”
Friends of the victim identified him as Grade 9 student Jordan Manners.
Police didn’t comment on a suspect, but said it was not a situation in which a gunman roamed the halls.
“I have no information at the present time with respect to suspects,” Blair said. “The only information we have is that this young man was found with a single gunshot wound and that he was transported to hospital.”
As word of the shooting spread through the neighbourhood, frantic parents — many in tears — rushed to the school, hoping their child wasn’t involved.
“I was thinking that it could be my son,” one woman said.
“You’re pretty scared,” another mother said.
Toronto Mayor David Miller said the incident underscores the need to crack down on gun crimes in the city.
“Handguns have one purpose, and that is to kill, and it really reinforces what we’ve been saying for quite a while at the city,” Miller told TV station CP24. “We absolutely have to get the guns off the streets. It’s going to require some changes to our laws, but it has to be done.”
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty offered his condolences to the families and friends of the victim.
“I also know I speak for all Ontarians when I condemn and deplore the violence we’ve seen here today,” McGuinty said in a statement. “I want the entire community at C.W. Jefferys C.I. to know that they are in my thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.”
Yellow police tape surrounded the school, and outside the barrier, police vehicles and curious onlookers — including many parents of students — jammed the streets.
Some parents were able to reach their children inside the school on cellphones.
The school is located near the Jane-Finch corridor, a poor area of Toronto noted for years for its high crime rate.
Police said no weapon had been found by early Wednesday evening.
The Toronto District School Board’s website said the school has about 850 students.
The shooting comes a little more than a month after a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech before taking his own life.
In September, a gunman at Montreal’s Dawson College killed a student and wounded 20 others before he died from police gunfire.
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(CP) – A list of some major violent incidents at Canadian schools:
May 23, 2007: Gunman shoots and kills 14-year-old student at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
Sept. 13, 2006: Kimveer Gill, 25, opens fire at Dawson College in Montreal, killing one woman and injuring 20 people.
April 20, 2000: Four students and one staff member wounded in knife attack at Cairine Wilson High School in Orleans, Ont. Occurs on first anniversary of Columbine massacre.
April 28, 1999: 14-year-old boy shoots two students, one fatally, at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alta.
Feb. 8, 1999: Man fires shot at Woodland Elementary School in Verdun, Que. No one injured.
October 1997: 35-year-old man fatally shoots teacher at Montreal language school for immigrants.
October 1994: Two guidance counsellors at Brockton High School in Toronto shot and wounded by student unhappy with grades.
June 1993: Teen wounded outside Gladstone Secondary School in Vancouver in drive-by shooting.
Aug. 24, 1992: Valery Fabrikant, professor at Concordia University in Montreal, goes on shooting rampage at school, killing four colleagues and wounding one.
February 1990: Jilted teenager shoots and wounds estranged girlfriend at General Brock High School in Burlington, Ont.
December 1989: Marc Lepine, 25, shoots dead 14 women at University of Montreal’s Ecole polytechnique engineering school, then kills himself.
October 1978: 17-year-old student shoots 16-year-old to death at Sturgeon Creek Regional Secondary School in Winnipeg.
Oct. 27, 1975: Robert Poulin, an 18-year-old militia sharpshooter, shoots six people at Ottawa’s Saint Pius X school and then kills himself. One wounded student dies just over a month later. Poulin had killed a girl at a youth home before he went to the school.
May 1975: Michael Slobodian, 16, kills teacher and student and wounds 13 others at Centennial Secondary School in Brampton, Ont., before turning gun on himself.
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Outbreaks of violence at U.S. and Canadian schools
(CP) – A list of some major violent incidents at North American schools:
May 23, 2007: Gunman shoots and kills 14-year-old student at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
April 16, 2007: Deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history as gunman opens fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va. The toll is 33 dead, including the gunman, who committed suicide.
Oct. 2, 2006: A 32-year-old gunman enters an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pa., and holds 10 girls hostage before shooting them. Five girls are killed, and five more wounded. The gunman also kills himself.
Sept. 13, 2006: Kimveer Gill, 25, opens fire at Dawson College in Montreal, killing one woman and injuring 20 people.
Aug. 30, 2006: 19-year-old man in Hillsborough, N.C., kills father, then opens fire at Orange High School, wounding two students before surrendering to police.
March 14, 2006: 14-year-old boy in Reno, Nev., bring’s father’s revolver to Pine Middle School and wounds two classmates.
Jan. 13, 2006: 15-year-old boy at Milwee Middle School in Longwood, Fla., holds class hostage at gunpoint before being fatally shot by police. It is later learned his weapon was a pellet gun.
Nov. 8, 2005: Student at high school in Jacksboro, Tenn., shoots and kills assistant principal. Principal and another assistant principal wounded.
March 21, 2005: 16-year-old boy in Red Lake, Minn., fatally shoots grandfather and grandfather’s partner at home, then goes to Red Lake High School, where he kills five students, a teacher and a security guard before committing suicide.
May 7, 2004: Two men, 18 and 24, shoot and wound four students at high school in Randallstown, Md.
March 30, 2004: Student at Wallace High School in Gary, Ind., shot to death in school parking lot by classmate.
Feb. 3, 2004: 14-year-old boy in Palmetto Bay, Fla., stabs and slits throat of 14-year-old classmate at Southwood Middle School.
Feb. 2, 2004: 19-year-old man shoots to death 17-year-old boy at Ballou Senior High School in Washington, D.C.
Sept. 24, 2003: 15-year-old boy shoots two classmates at Rocori High School in Cold Spring, Minn. One dies same day, other dies two weeks later.
April 24, 2003: 14-year-old boy shoots principal to death in school cafeteria in Red Lion, Pa., before killing himself.
March 5, 2001: 15-year-old freshman opens fire with .22-calibre pistol at Santana High School in Santee, Calif., killing two students and injuring 13 others.
Jan. 10, 2001: 17-year-old gunman fires shots at Hueneme High School in Oxnard, Calif., before taking female student hostage. He is later shot and killed by police.
May 26, 2000: 13-year-old honours student shoots and kills teacher on last day of classes in Lake Worth, Fla.
April 20, 2000: Four students and one staff member wounded in knife attack at Cairine Wilson High School in Orleans, Ont. Occurs on first anniversary of Columbine massacre.
Feb. 29, 2000: Six-year-old boy shoots six-year-old girl to death in Grade 1 classroom at Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Mich. Because of his age, boy is not charged.
Dec. 6, 1999: 13-year-old student fires at least 15 shots at Fort Gibson Middle School in Fort Gibson, Okla., wounding four classmates.
Nov. 19, 1999: 12-year-old boy shoots 13-year-old girl in head at school in Deming, N.M. Girl dies next day.
May 20, 1999: 15-year-old boy opens fire at Heritage High School in Conyers, Ga., with .357-calibre Magnum and rifle, wounding six students.
April 28, 1999: 14-year-old boy shoots two students, one fatally, at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alta.
April 20, 1999: Two heavily armed teenagers rampage through Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 students and one teacher before committing suicide.
April 16, 1999: High school sophomore fires two shotgun blasts in school hallway in Notus, Idaho. No one injured.
Feb. 8, 1999: Man fires shot at Woodland Elementary School in Verdun, Que. No one injured.
May 21, 1998: 17-year-old boy kills parents, then goes to high school in Springfield, Ore., on shooting rampage, killing two teens and wounding more than 20 people.
May 19, 1998: 18-year-old honours student opens fire at high school in Fayetteville, Tenn., killing classmate who was dating his ex-girlfriend.
April 24, 1998: 15-year-old boy opens fire at eighth-grade dance in Edinboro, Pa., killing teacher.
March 24, 1998: Four girls and teacher shot to death and 10 people wounded during false fire alarm at middle school in Jonesboro, Ark., when two boys, 11 and 13, open fire from woods.
Dec. 1, 1997: Three students die and five wounded at Heath High School in West Paducah, Ky., after 14-year-old boy opens fire.
October 1997: 35-year-old man fatally shoots teacher at Montreal language school for immigrants.
Oct. 1, 1997: 16-year-old boy in Pearl, Miss., shoots two students to death and wounds seven others after stabbing his mother to death.
Feb. 19, 1997: 16-year-old boy takes shotgun and bag of shells to school in Bethel, Alaska, killing principal and student and wounding two others.
October 1994: Two guidance counsellors at Brockton High School in Toronto shot and wounded by student unhappy with grades.
June 1993: Teen wounded outside Gladstone Secondary School in Vancouver in drive-by shooting.
Aug. 24, 1992: Valery Fabrikant, professor at Concordia University in Montreal, goes on shooting rampage at school, killing four colleagues and wounding one.
February 1990: Jilted teenager shoots and wounds estranged girlfriend at General Brock High School in Burlington, Ont.
December 1989: Marc Lepine, 25, shoots dead 14 women at University of Montreal’s Ecole polytechnique engineering school, then kills himself.
October 1978: 17-year-old student shoots 16-year-old to death at Sturgeon Creek Regional Secondary School in Winnipeg.
Oct. 27, 1975: Robert Poulin, an 18-year-old militia sharpshooter, shoots six people at Ottawa’s Saint Pius X school and then kills himself. One wounded student dies just over a month later. Poulin had killed a girl at a youth home before he went to the school.
May 1975: Michael Slobodian, 16, kills teacher and student and wounds 13 others at Centennial Secondary School in Brampton, Ont., before turning gun on himself.
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