Police shoot driver of suspected stolen vehicle during attempted traffic stop in Scarborough

Ontario's police watchdog has been called in after a person was shot by York Regional Police in Scarborough on Thursday night.

A police officer shot the driver of a suspected stolen vehicle during an attempted traffic stop in Scarborough on Thursday night.

York Regional Police (YRP) said officers began following the vehicle in the area of Kennedy Road and Clayton Drive in Markham.

The vehicle travelled south to Toronto, and around 7 p.m., police said they attempted to stop it near Kennedy Road and Bonis Avenue, north of Sheppard Avenue East.

“The complete sequence of events is still being investigated, but during the interaction, we do know that at least one officer discharged their firearm, striking a lone male occupant in the vehicle,” a YRP spokesperson said in an email to CTV News Toronto.

Shortly after, the male occupant was transported to a trauma centre in non-life-threatening condition, YRP said. Toronto paramedics told CP24 that they took one person to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

YRP said no officers were injured in the shooting, and the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which is Ontario’s police watchdog, has been notified.

So far, the SIU has not commented about the shooting.

The SIU is an arm’s length agency called in to investigate whenever police are involved in a death, serious injury, allegations of sexual assault, or the discharge of a weapon.