A high school in Scarborough will be open today after a boy was critically injured in a stabbing inside the building
The incident happened around 3 p.m. on Monday at Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute at 3663 Danforth Ave., just east of Birchmount Road
According to Toronto police, officers at the scene found a 17-year-old boy in the school’s office suffering from an apparent stab wound
They “immediately commenced life saving measures for an extended period of time,” Insp. Craig Young told the media at the scene on Monday evening
Paramedics arrived a short time later and transported the victim to a local hospital, where he remains in life-threatening condition, Young said
The victim attends Birchmount Park Collegiate and is in Grade 12, Toronto District School Board spokesperson Ryan Bird confirmed late Monday afternoon. He said social workers were brought in to provide support for “all of those impacted” by this incident
Birchmount Park Collegiate was placed under lockdown for about two and a half hours following the stabbing, which is the second one to happen at the school so far this year
Last April, a 14-year-old boy was seriously injured after being stabbed outside the school shortly after students were dismissed for the day
Two weeks ago, an 18-year-old was fatally shot outside Woburn Collegiate, near Markham and Ellesmere roads. A 15-year-old boy was also injured during that incident
“Schools deserve to be a safe place to learn and work,” said Bird, adding the board cannot tackle violence on its own
In a tweet posted Monday night, TDSB Director of Education Colleen Russell-Rawlins said the board is “hopeful that the Grade 12 student who was injured at Birchmount Park CI (Monday) makes a full recovery”
“Violence there and elsewhere should not become routine in any way,” she wrote
“TDSB will continue to take action to prevent violence but the solution requires a whole community effort that includes other levels of government and community partners”
Toronto police, who said they canvassed Birchmount Park Collegiate school room by room Monday evening and interviewed any students they believe may have been involved in or witnessed in the incident, said they do not believe there is any “concern for public safety at this time”
Young said school safety is a top priority for Toronto police
“(We) responded robustly to this call and will respond to any call regarding safety at our schools, and obviously it is a concern for us and we remain committed to school safety,” he said
Yesterday evening, Toronto police did not release any suspect information in order to maintain the “integrity of the investigation”
On Tuesday morning, Toronto police told CP24 that they have identified a person of interest, but have yet to make an arrest
This investigation is ongoing
Anyone with information should contact police at 416-808-4100, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477 (TIPS) or www.222tips.com
With files from CP24’s Chris Fox
Joanna Lavoie, CP24 Web Content Writer
