There is a rising spike in gun violence among youth – here are things we can do to tackle this problem
Toronto has been experiencing recent spikes in gun violence. Increasingly, criminals have become ever more brazen in orchestrating their violent crimes, from break-and-enters and daytime carjackings to flash-mob smash-and-grab jewellery store heists and shootings targeting synagogues, often carried out in plain sight and captured on camera.
What is more alarming is that the youth committing these crimes are getting younger and younger. So, what is happening to our youth and even our children?
On June 15, 2025, at 1:30 a.m., a 12-year-old boy was charged after allegedly hitting a police officer with a stolen vehicle in Toronto’s east end, while shots were reportedly fired during the incident. What is a 12-year-old doing behind the wheel of a stolen car at 1:30 in the morning?
The case is shocking, but it is not occurring in isolation. Toronto Police reported that youth firearm arrests increased by approximately 161 per cent between 2022 and 2024, rising from 41 arrests in the first half of 2022 to 107 arrests in the first half of 2024.
Police have linked part of this increase to the growing recruitment of young people by gangs and organized criminal networks. These figures suggest that youth involvement in firearm related crime is not an isolated phenomenon, but part of a broader and deeply concerning trend.
On June 16, 2026, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw stated publicly that youth are being recruited through encrypted messaging platforms and paid to commit shootings throughout the Greater Toronto Area. These investigations included attacks on the U.S. Consulate and shootings targeting synagogues.
The actions of 12-year-olds and older youth, the increasing involvement of children in serious violent offences, and the alarming rate of youth participation in car thefts signify a profound shift in what young people are being exposed to and influenced by at a very early age. As a society, we must pay attention to how youth are being exposed to violence, social materialism, and algorithmic conditioning.
The alarming reality is that children are being recruited by organized criminal networks seeking profit while insulating themselves from legal consequences. These groups increasingly use young people as disposable intermediaries to commit crimes, including shootings for hire.
As a sociologist and University of Toronto professor whose research focuses on youth wellbeing, education, race and ethnicity, and social inequality, I see this moment as revealing something deeply uncomfortable: youth and children are vulnerable to content they are constantly scrolling through, sharing, and liking, often without parents, educators, or the broader public fully grasping how they are being socialized online.
Of course, youth are targeted partly because they are impressionable. They are also targeted because criminal organizations understand the protections and limitations embedded within the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Young people are viewed by these organizations as easier to manipulate and, in some cases, less risky to deploy.
We need stronger measures to hold criminal organizations and individuals accountable for recruiting, exploiting, coercing, or directing children and youth to commit violent crimes. Those who use minors to carry out shootings, organized crime activities, or acts of political violence should face severe legal consequences.
But if we are serious about reducing youth violence and child recruitment, we must be willing to confront the role that social media platforms and digital environments play in shaping attitudes and behaviours.
The conversation must extend beyond parents, teachers, guidance counsellors, and law enforcement officials. Governments, technology companies, community organizations, educators, and families all have a role to play.
The “guns for hire” story should therefore be one about a call to action to create safer social media conditions while allowing them to be just kids.
Dr. Ahmed Ali Ilmi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Development Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He is a member of the Government of Canada’s Youth Strategy Working Group Expert Panel on Gangs and Radicalization.
