Teen arrested in fatal shooting of eight-year-old boy struck by stray bullet in North York: police
By Codi WilsonOpens in new window Updated: September 10, 2025 at 11:48AM EDTPublished: September 10, 2025 at 7:28AM EDT
Toronto police say a 16-year-old suspect has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of eight-year-old JahVai Roy, who was struck by a stray bullet while lying in his bed in North York last month.The arrest was announced during a news conference at Toronto police headquarters on Wednesday morning.Roy was found suffering from a gunshot wound inside his apartment on Martha Eaton Way, near Trethewey Drive, at around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 16. He was taken to hospital for treatment but later died.“He was at home when a group of people brazenly fired guns outside his apartment building. A stray bullet struck him while he was in bed. In bed in his own room, the place that should have been the safest,” Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said Wednesday.Roy’s mother previously told CTV News that she was lying beside her son in bed when he was fatally struck.“In the hours after this unimaginable crime, I spoke with JahVai’s mother. I told her that we would do everything possible to bring those responsible to justice. And over the past weeks, our officers have done just that,” Demkiw said.“Every necessary resource was used to find the individuals alleged to be responsible for taking the life of JahVai Roy. No stone was left unturned and our officers diligently followed up with every bit of information they received.”On Friday, Sept. 5, investigators said a 16-year-old suspect, who cannot be named, was arrested in connection with the homicide.
The suspect, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and five firearm-related offences. A loaded firearm was recovered during the arrest, police said.A gun and a quantity of ammunition seized as part of the investigation into the homicide of 8-year-old JahVai Roy are shown. (Toronto Police Service)Two suspects remain outstanding in connection with the homicide, police added.Canada-wide warrants have been issued for the arrest of Ibrahim Ibrahim, 17, and Amarii Lindner, who is now 18 but was 17 at the time of the shooting.While the identity of suspects under the age of 18 are typically protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), Demkiw said investigators received judicial authorization to identify them given the seriousness of the allegations.Ibrahim Ibrahim, 17, and Amarii Lindner, 18, are shown from left to right. The two suspects are wanted in connection with the homicide of 8-year-old JahVai Roy. Police have obtained a judicial authorization to identify the two suspects.“I encourage both these individuals to turn yourselves into police immediately,” Demkiw said.“To be clear, someone knows where they are. A word of caution, if you know where they are and are found to be harbouring them or aiding them in any way, we will investigate and lay charges as appropriate.
”‘A senseless, cowardly act’Homicide Det.-Sgt. Jason Davis said he believes the two suspects are still in the Toronto area.“The world is now looking for you,” Davis said. “It is time to turn yourself in.”When asked why all three suspects face first-degree murder charges, Davis said police believe the shooting was a “planned and pre-meditated act” even though “the victim may not have been the intended target.”“What happened on Aug. 16 was a senseless, cowardly act that extinguished the life of a little boy,” Davis said.“Those that were responsible will be held accountable.”Demkiw said Toronto police have seen a “dramatic rise” in the number of young people being arrested with illegal firearms, a trend he called “incredibly concerning.”“We’ve been raising the alarm for the last couple of years around the rise of violence amongst young people and if you take a look at our statistics, what the data tells us, we’ve had 13 young people charged in murder investigations this year in our city. That is very alarming,” he said.“I think it really speaks to the need for all levels of government and everybody who provides services that impact families and young people to work together to do everything we can to prevent and intervene in advance of these senseless act of violence that are hurting our communities and in this case, took the life of an eight-year-old child.”
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Restaurants Canada says B.C. premier ‘missing the reality’ of temporary foreign worker program
By Todd Coyne Published: September 10, 2025 at 11:47AM EDT
Restaurants Canada, a national advocacy group that represents the foodservice industry, is calling out British Columbia Premier David Eby over comments he made criticizing eateries in the province for allegedly trying to hire temporary foreign workers instead of local jobseekers.Both Eby and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre have suggested ending the federal program that allows employers to hire foreign nationals to fill gaps in the local labour market.Earlier this week, the B.C. premier directed his criticism at two Vancouver-area chain restaurants – a Starbucks and a Boston Pizza outlet. Eby told the Burnaby Board of Trade that the businesses were seeking to hire franchise managers through the foreign worker program.“I don’t believe that they can’t find a British Columbian on their to promote to manager,” Eby said in a video clip of the speech posted to his social media. “I don’t believe it.”In a statement Wednesday, Restaurants Canada said the premier’s remarks “are missing the reality of the foodservice industry” in the province, which the organization estimates employs about 183,000 British Columbians and accounts for one in five youth jobs.The industry group says temporary foreign workers represent just three per cent of the total foodservice workforce in Canada, and are primarily chefs and cooks with specific skills and training not found in the local labour pool.“Tourism-heavy areas with aging populations often don’t have the youth necessary to meet the sharp rise in demand during specific periods of the year,” said Kelly Higginson, the Restaurants Canada president and CEO, in the statement.“Additionally, 24-hour businesses, like highway comfort stations, have a hard time staffing overnight shifts and may resort to the program.”The organization acknowledged in the statement that “there are changes to be made” to the temporary foreign worker program to ensure employers support local workers.“But those changes should not be made without consulting the businesses they will impact and taking into account the real gaps that exist in Canada’s labour market,” Higginson said.There were about 11,000 temporary foreign worker positions approved in B.C. in the first three months of 2025, down about 37 per cent from the same period last year, while the rest of Canada has seen a 20.5 per cent decline.The declines came after the federal government tightened access to the program last September.“We need confidence in our immigration system,” Eby said, referring to the hiring of foreign labour in place of domestic workers “a corrosive and problematic thing.”“We need an immigration system that ensures that predatory employers are not able to use the temporary foreign worker program to depress wages or to deny opportunities to other workers, who insist on their rights, that have the opportunity to go somewhere else,” he added.Last week, Eby took aim at the immigration system broadly, saying the province “can’t have an immigration system that fills up our homeless shelters and our food banks” and “results in high unemployment.”Restaurants Canada says the foodservice industry in B.C. generates more than $20 billion in economic activity annually, representing nearly five per cent of the province’s gross domestic product.With files from The Canadian Press
FBI releases photos of person of interest in Charlie Kirk shooting
By The Associated Press Updated: September 11, 2025 at 12:18PM EDTPublished: September 11, 2025 at 5:16AM EDT
OREM, Utah -- The sniper who assassinated Charlie Kirk is believed to have jumped off a roof and fled into a neighbourhood after firing one shot and has not been identified, authorities said Thursday in disclosing they have recovered a high-powered, bolt-action rifle they believe was used in the attack and are reviewing video footage of the person they believe was responsible.The shooter appeared to be of college age and blended in on the university campus where Kirk was killed Wednesday, said Beau Mason, the commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety. It remained unclear how far the shooter has travelled, though law enforcement officials say nearby woods where the rifle was found have been secured.Even as law enforcement officials revealed new details about an attack they called targeted, much remained unclear nearly 24 hours later, including the sniper’s identity, motive and whereabouts. Two people detained Wednesday were released after neither was determined to be connected to the shooting, but by Thursday officials expressed confidence they had tracked the shooter’s movements on campus in the run-up to it.Later Thursday, the FBI released two photos of a person of interest in connection with the shooting as investigators appealed to the public for information. The photos show a person wearing a hat, sunglasses and a long-sleeve black shirt.Law enforcement recovered a Mauser .30-calibre bolt-action rifle hidden in a towel in a wooded area near the university campus along what they suspect to be the shooter’s path as they fled the scene, according to information circulated among law enforcement and shared with The Associated Press. Besides the spent cartridge recovered in the chamber, three other rounds were loaded in the magazine. The weapon and ammunition are being forensically analyzed by law enforcement at a federal lab for clues that could help identify the shooter or the motive.In Pictures: Mourners pay tribute to Charlie KirkKirk, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, was killed in broad daylight while speaking about social issues at a Utah Valley University campus courtyard.
The circumstances brought renewed attention to the escalating threat of political violence in the United States that in the last several years has cut across the ideological spectrum. The killing drew bipartisan condemnation, but a national reckoning over ways to prevent political grievances from manifesting as deadly violence seemed elusive.The attack was captured on grisly videos circulating on social media that show Kirk speaking into a handheld microphone when suddenly a shot rings out. Kirk can be seen reaching up with his right hand as blood gushes from the left side of his neck. Stunned spectators gasp and scream before people start running away.Trump said he would award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., while Vice-President JD Vance and his wife, Usha, were set to visit with Kirk’s family in Salt Lake City. Vance posted a remembrance on X chronicling their friendship, dating back to initial messages in 2017, through Vance’s Senate run and ultimately praying after hearing of the shooting. Kirk played a pivotal role in setting up Trump’s second Republican administration, Vance wrote.“So much of the success we’ve had in this administration traces directly to Charlie’s ability to organize and convene,” Vance wrote. “He didn’t just help us win in 2024, he helped us staff the entire government.”Charlie Kirk hands out hats before speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)Kirk was taking questions about gun violenceKirk was speaking at a debate hosted by his nonprofit political youth organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, at the Sorensen Center courtyard on campus. Immediately before the shooting, he took questions from an audience member about gun violence.“Do you know how many transgender Americans have been mass shooters over the last 10 years?” the person asked. Kirk responded, “Too many.”The questioner followed up: “Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years?”“Counting or not counting gang violence?” Kirk asked.Then a shot rang out.The shooter, who Gov. Spencer Cox pledged would be held accountable in a state with the death penalty, wore dark clothing and fired from a building roof some distance away.Madison Lattin was watching a few dozen feet from Kirk’s left when she heard the bullet hit him.“Blood is falling and dripping down, and you’re just like so scared, not just for him but your own safety,” she said.She saw people drop to the ground in an eerie silence pierced immediately by cries. She and others ran. Some fell and were trampled in the stampede.
When Lattin later learned that Kirk had died, she wept, she said, describing him as a role model who had showed her how to fight for the truth.Allison Hemingway-Witty cries after Charlie Kirk is shot during Turning Point's visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)Trump calls Kirk ‘martyr for truth’About 3,000 people were in attendance, according to a statement from the Utah Department of Public Safety. The university police department had six officers working the event, along with Kirk’s own security detail, authorities said.Trump announced Kirk’s death on social media and praised the 31-year-old co-founder and CEO of Turning Point as “Great, and even Legendary.” Later, he released a video in which he called Kirk a “martyr for truth and freedom.”Utah Valley University said the campus was evacuated after the shooting and will be closed until Monday.Meanwhile, armed officers walked around the neighborhood bordering the campus, knocking on doors and asking for any information residents might have on the shooting. Helicopters buzzed overhead.Wednesday’s event, billed as the first stop on Kirk’s “The American Comeback Tour,” had generated a polarizing campus reaction. An online petition calling for university administrators to bar Kirk from appearing received nearly 1,000 signatures. The university issued a statement last week citing First Amendment rights and affirming its “commitment to free speech, intellectual inquiry, and constructive dialogue.”Last week, Kirk posted on X images of news clips showing his visit was sparking controversy. He wrote, “What’s going on in Utah?”Condemnation from across the political spectrumThe shooting drew swift bipartisan condemnation as Democratic officials joined Trump, who ordered flags lowered to half-staff and issued a presidential proclamation, and other Republican allies of Kirk in decrying the violence.“The murder of Charlie Kirk breaks my heart. My deepest sympathies are with his wife, two young children, and friends,” said Gabrielle Giffords, the former Democratic congresswoman who was wounded in a 2011 shooting in her Arizona district.In a joint statement, the Young Democrats of Connecticut and the Connecticut Young Republicans called the shooting “unacceptable.”“There is no place in our country for such acts regardless of political disagreements,” they said.The shooting appeared poised to become part of a spike of political violence that has touched a range of ideologies and representatives of both major political parties. The attacks include the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband at their house in June, the firebombing of a Colorado parade in June to demand Hamas release hostages and a fire set at the house of Pennsylvania’s governor, who is Jewish, in April. The most notorious of these events is the shooting of Trump during a Pennsylvania campaign rally last year.
