Toronto police have charged a young male with five counts of attempted murder in the mass shooting that left a group of teens with gunshot injuries in a west-end lowrise late last month.

The youth, who was arrested in Barrie on Monday, is the third person police have charged in relation to the Oct. 30 shooting.

Police received reports of gunfire in a residential complex near Black Creek and Trethewey drives at around 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 30. Police alleged three men approached the building in a black sedan, entered the building wearing black clothing and shot at an 18-year-old man, a 17-year-old girl, two 16-year-old boys and a 16-year-old girl. The victims were all treated in hospital.

Police said about 20 shell casings were found at the scene. Bloodstains were left along the hallway and numerous bullet holes pierced windows and inside walls.

Toronto and Barrie police arrested the youth on Monday while conducting a drug raid at a home in Barrie. The youth, two other youths and four adult men were found inside the residence with a loaded 9 mm handgun and a “quantity” of cocaine.

All seven were charged in relation to the weapon and the seized cocaine, police said.

The youth was also been charged with five counts of attempted murder, five counts of discharging a firearm while being reckless to the live and safety of another, and seven weapons charges, all relating to the Black Creek Drive shooting.

Two other adults have been previously charged in the Oct. 30 shooting.

Malik Mohamed, 21, of Toronto, was arrested in Barrie on unrelated charges on Nov. 6. At the time of his arrest, Toronto police say he was found with two loaded semi-automatic handguns.

Two days later, Mohamed was charged with five counts of attempted murder and various other weapons charges in connection to the Black Creek Drive shooting.

Andre Cunningham, 20, also of Toronto, was earlier arrested following a series of raids in Toronto’s west end on Nov. 3. He is also facing five counts of attempted murder and a number of weapons charges.

The shooting was one of three in the area over a 48-hour period. It has left community members calling for help with increasing gun violence in the city.

Gun violence continues to be at record levels in Toronto. As of Monday, 255 people had been killed or injured in shootings this year, a number that, with seven weeks left in 2019, has surpassed the highest year-end total in police data that goes back to 2004.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Based on the data, shootings in the city have increased steadily since reaching a low in 2014, which saw 90 people shot by Nov. 11.

The rate of violence this year has so far exceeded the previous record — set in 2005, which was dubbed “the year of the gun” — even accounting for population growth.