Deadly Weekend: 15-Year-Old Boy One of Three Toronto Homicide Victims Over Long Weekend

Police tape at a crime scene in Toronto on May 2, 2017. The Canadian Press/Graeme Roy

The “targeted” shooting of a 15-year-old boy in a North York plaza parking lot was one of three homicides in Toronto over the Labour Day weekend, city police say.

The three-day weekend included 11 shootings across 10 divisions of the Toronto Police Service, and ended with the death of Mario Giddings, a 15-year-old city resident, police said at a Sept. 3 press conference.

Toronto police officers were called to a plaza on the corner of Black Creek Drive and Trethewey Drive just after 7:45 p.m. on Sept. 2, where officers found the young gunshot victim, according to a release from police. The plaza is located across the street from the 12 Division police station.

Mario Giddings. Toronto Police Service handout

The teen was transported to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Det.-Sgt. Ted Lioumanis said Mario’s death remains under investigation.

“I can tell you … at this point that he was targeted,” Lioumanis said during the press conference, adding that police are still investigating the motive.

“I can also tell you that there were multiple rounds fired at the deceased.”

Police said a dark-coloured vehicle was observed entering the plaza parking lot and a firearm was “subsequently discharged.”

Officers are canvasing the area looking for video surveillance footage from area businesses, many of which were closed on the day of the killing, Lioumanis said.

Mario’s aunt and guardian, Fortunata Giddings, took to Facebook to express her grief.

“I am heartbroken today I, I never thought I would be in this situation but it is a reality I have to face,” she wrote. “Rest in Peace my boy, I already miss you.”

Mario was set to begin Grade 11 at Weston Collegiate Institute Sept. 4, the school’s principal said in a letter to the school community.

“Our community experienced a tragic loss this past Monday, with the sudden death of Mario Giddings,” principal Rosanna Deo wrote in the letter that was forwarded to The Epoch Times.

“In the wake of this tragedy, our priority is providing support and care for our students, staff, and families. Social work supports have been in place at the school this week and will continue to be available as long as they are needed.”

Violent Weekend

The murder of the young student was one of three homicides over the holiday weekend, Lioumanis said, stressing that there are “no investigative links” between the killings.

In addition to the murders, there were five firearm discharges and three shootings with injuries, Insp. Paul Krawczyk of TPS’s Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force told the press conference.

“Unfortunately, we had a very violent weekend in the city,” Krawczyk said. “Five of these discharges and shootings happened on Sunday.”

Police seized six guns and laid charges against six people in relation to the weekend incidents that included two assaults and an auto theft, he said, adding that police are not yet able to provide much information about the other the homicides because the investigations are in the early stages.

“I appreciate that events like these can spread fear in the community,” he said. “ I want to stress, though, that we need your help to disrupt this violence. If you see something that doesn’t seem right, if you know someone that you believe has a firearm, please call the police.”

Organized crime enforcement unit Supt. Paul McIntyre described the amount of shootings over the weekend as “shocking.”

The latest shootings are continuing a 2024 trend of increased gun violence in the city.

There have already been 309 shootings and firearm discharges in 2024, up more than 40 percent over the year prior, police stats show. Those shootings include more than 50 homicides in Toronto so far this year, according to police stats updated last month.

Police have seized 491 crime guns so far this year, McIntyre said, noting that 85 percent of the firearms have come from the United States.

Toronto police are responding by taking an “intelligence-led, all-hands-on-deck approach to combating [gun] violence,” he said, adding that “great strides” are being made in solving many of the weekend incidents.

“We have teams right now that are out on the road and are working at the station, following up with the shootings that happened this weekend,” McIntyre said. “We are going to make some arrests.”