TORONTO — The police officer who was shot and seriously injured in Toronto’s midtown on Wednesday was released from hospital the next day, a spokeswoman for the Toronto Police Association confirmed Friday.
The shooting in the Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood fuelled concerns about a recent spate of Toronto gun violence and recharged political debates about Canada’s bail system, given the suspected shooter was apparently out on bail.
It happened at around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when police who were conducting a robbery investigation stopped a vehicle. Two sources with knowledge of the investigation say the plainclothes officer was shot in the abdomen by a man who got out of the vehicle.
Ontario’s police watchdog says an officer fired a gun in the underground parking garage where it happened as the suspect fled, but no one was hit.
The suspected shooter was later arrested at an east-end hospital. Police say 21-year-old Tibor Organa faces several charges, including attempted murder, unauthorized possession of a firearm and three counts of robbery.
Two others were also arrested in the robbery investigation, police said, a 22-year-old woman and a 15-year-old.
Court records indicate the suspected shooter had been out on bail after being charged with multiple counts of theft and breach of probation among other offences in the Township of King last May.
The bail system has repeatedly come under the scrutiny of politicians and law enforcement actors who levy accusations of overly lenient conditions and releases.
It caught the ire of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who said during question period in Ottawa on Thursday that the government’s “hug-a-thug” system is putting people at risk.
Government House leader Karina Gould said no police officer should be hurt in the line of duty, but Poilievre’s comments showed he was “trampling” over Canadians’ rights.
Studies and prisoners’ rights advocates have been critical of the argument that bail should be more restrictive, saying that erodes a fundamental principle of the justice system — the presumption of innocence.
Nonetheless, after provincial premiers including Ontario’s Doug Ford pleaded with the federal government to fix what they deemed a broken system, Ottawa legislated to tighten bail rules late last year. Local authorities are ultimately responsible for managing the system governed by those laws.
Gun violence in Toronto was under the spotlight this week as police responded to two deadly shootings less than 24 hours apart on Monday.
The first nine months of 2024 have already seen more shootings, and more deaths due to firearm violence, than in each of the past three years.
Police Chief Myron Demkiw said the force had upped its presence in neighbourhoods most affected by shootings, and police had made 746 firearm-related arrests so far this year.
He said police data indicate this year’s figures are on par with pre-pandemic rates.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.
