21-year-old man charged with attempted murder after police officer shot in midtown Toronto

A 21-year-old man is facing more than a dozen charges, including attempted murder, after a Toronto police officer was shot outside a midtown apartment building on Wednesday night.

The shooting occurred as the officer, a 29-year-old who has been employed with the police service for five years, was conducting a robbery investigation in the area of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue.

According to investigators, officers approached two people at around 5:30 p.m., and one of them allegedly shot one officer and fled the area.

One person was immediately arrested at the scene, while two others were apprehended later that evening.

In a news release on Thursday, police identified the suspects as 21-year-old Tibor Orgona, 22-year-old Amanda O’Dette and a 15-year-old boy who cannot be named under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

All three are facing robbery offences, with Orgona facing additional charges in connection with the shooting.

Along with attempted murder, he has been charged with numerous firearm-related offences, failure to comply with a probation order, breach of firearm prohibition order and breach of probation order.

Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw said the injured officer sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, Demkiw added.

“We are very, very relieved to say that he is doing well,” the police chief told Newstalk 1010 on Thursday morning. “We do expect a full recovery.”

SIU releases new details about case

Meanwhile, the province’s police watchdog, which is investigating an officer firing his gun during the incident, released new details on Thursday.

In a news release issued on Thursday morning, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said after the suspect shot the officer, a second officer “discharged his firearm at the man.”

He was not struck by gunfire, the SIU said.

The watchdog added that none of the suspects suffered serious injuries.

The SIU, which invoked its mandate shortly after the shooting, is called in to investigate whenever police are involved in a death, serious injury, allegations of sexual assault, or the discharge of a firearm.

A woman who resides in the area said she and her daughter witnessed one of the suspects being taken into custody on Wednesday night.

“We saw a young man sitting over here against the wall in handcuffs… My daughter was just coming home from work from Yonge and Eglinton. She heard all of the fire alarms and the police and when she came home, she saw the boy actually being cuffed. And he was quite young,” she said.

“It’s terrible. This is historically a safe neighbourhood so it is very disturbing.”