Guns Recovered Over Weekend

With 11 shootings in the city over the Labour Day Weekend, Toronto Police is seeking the public’s help to stem the gun violence.

“I appreciate that events like these can spread fear in communities across Toronto,” Inspector Paul Krawczyk said at a news conference at police headquarters on September 3. “We continue to work closely with the City and community members to try to get to the root cause of the issue. I want to stress though we need your help to curb this violence. If you see something that doesn’t seem right, if you know someone that you believe has a gun, please call police or Crime Stoppers.”

You can call 9-1-1 to report a person with a gun to police or report anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS or at www.222tips.com.

Over the weekend, police seized six firearms and charged six people in relation to illegal firearm possession.

• On Friday, August 30 in one firearm discharge that took place on Dixon Rd. in Toronto, the Centralized Shooting Response Team, with assistance from 23 Division officers, arrested two people within seven hours and recovered a Glock firearm.

• On Saturday, August 31, officers responded to an assault and threating call at Lawrence Avenue East and Victoria Park Ave, where they arrested one male and seized a firearm.

• On Sunday, September 1 at Sudbury St. and Queen St. W. police were called to an assault where one person was arrested and a firearm was also recovered.

• On Monday, September 2, members of the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force executed a search warrant on a vehicle on Roncesvalles Avenue where one person was arrested and a firearm located.

• On Tuesday, September 3, a long gun was seized after officers attempted to stop a stolen vehicle.  As a result of this stop, two officers were taken to hospital with minor injuries.  They have since been released.  The suspects were able to flee the scene and have not been located at this time.

Staff Superintendent Paul MacIntyre said there is an “all-hands on deck approach to combatting this violence.”

“Some of these shootings on the weekend, we have leads and are actively working them right now,” he said. “We expect to get some arrests from them. Shootings and firearms discharges are up across the city, but we are making great strides in solving a good percentage of those.”

Last year, TPS seized 592 crime guns. In 2024, 491 crime guns have been seized.

“Of those, 85 per cent have been sourced to the United States,” said MacIntyre

He noted that the Service is taking proactive steps to reduce gun crime and other criminal activity in the city through various initiatives.

“Our Community Partnerships & Engagement Unit oversees programs that engage thousands of youth across our city,” MacIntyre said. “We have Neighbourhood Community Officers embedded in 56 city neighbourhoods. Our Divisions are also developing strategies in their respective communities to mobilize high-risk areas.”

The Toronto Police also uses a gang prevention strategy to educate people on the risk factors to youth joining gangs and an exit strategy to help youth get out of the lifestyle.

“But we can’t do this alone. We also depend on the community to work with us in solving these crimes by providing information that will lead to arrests and charges.”