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On the second day of school, students had been milling outside and children had been playing in the yard of a nearby daycare around noon when聽the shootout broke out, police said.

Both groups fired shots at each other outside York Memorial Collegiate Institute on , . The 17-year-old, one of the six to eight people involved, was struck by gunfire and taken to hospital with serious injuries, Supt. Richard Harris told reporters at the scene.

A woman in her 30s also appears to have been caught in the crossfire while driving on Keele Street, he said. She was rushed to hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.

Investigators found a firearm and a loaded magazine at the scene. A “young person” has been arrested, Harris said, and police are looking for more suspects.聽

One witness, who did not want to share his last name because of concern for his safety, said he and his co-worker were doing roadwork in the vicinity of the Keelesdale apartment complex when the shots rang out.聽

鈥淲e were within 20 feet of them (the suspects) when they started shooting,鈥� Walter said, adding that at least 10 shots were fired. 鈥淭hey had a bit of a gunfight. All hell did break loose.鈥�

He said students from the high school were outside and young children were playing in the yard of a daycare at a nearby church at the time.

鈥淭hey were shooting at each other across the road,鈥� Walter said, adding that one of the groups was standing in the vicinity of the school.

A woman, who was driving a white Jeep, seemed to have been shot in the leg and the driver of a pickup truck rendered help by tying a shirt around her leg to slow the bleeding.

鈥淪hots went off, and bullets went through the Jeep鈥檚 door and hit the (driver) in the leg,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he got out screaming.鈥�

He said the man driving the black Dodge pickup truck, who had to duck down in his truck when the shooting started, ran to her aid, after the shooting subsided.

Police had blocked off a section of Keele Street on Wednesday for the investigation. Yellow evidence markers were visible on a driveway located between the local high school and the adjacent Keelesdale apartments. A white Jeep Wrangler sat parked in the southbound lanes on Keele, next to a black Dodge Ram pickup truck stopped in the northbound lanes.

鈥淭hat guy is a hero,鈥� Walter said of the man who helped wounded woman. 鈥淗e could have drove straight out of that shooting but he stopped and helped her.鈥�

He also saw a male collapse in the laneway as he was trying to run away from the scene. Another man was observed aiding the wounded person, who appeared to have been shot somewhere in his abdomen, Walter said.

鈥淭he craziness is that they didn鈥檛 take into account that there were kids across the street,鈥� he said.

Walter, who was standing near Keele when the shooting started, said he had no option but to 鈥渞un for my life up the laneway,鈥� located next to the Keelesdale apartment building.

His work truck was observed parked on Keele, among the vehicles trapped within the crime scene zone cordoned off by police Wednesday afternoon.

Sitting on the steps of a building about 100 metres north of the scene, Walter pointed to a yellow evidence marker across the street, which he said was placed next to a magazine that was dropped by one of the shooters on the sidewalk.

Just steps north of where that dark object was lying on the sidewalk, about 100 metres north of the school, was also another evidence marker. He said the shooters were dressed in hoodies and at least one of them was wearing a black mask.

鈥淚 think the government needs to do something about the crime,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy.鈥�

Though part of the shooting appears to have occurred on school property, Harris said police did not know whether any of the people involved were affiliated with聽York Memorial Collegiate Institute.

A spokesperson for the 色色啦 District School Board (TDSB) could not comment on whether the 17-year-old boy was a student there, noting the board was waiting for more information from police.

The school went into a lockdown for a few hours after the shooting, . It was lifted by mid-afternoon.聽Other area schools, Charles E. Webster Public School, Silverthorn Community School and Keelesdale Junior Public School, were also put under hold and secure, TDSB said.

“It’s an unfortunate incident that this sort of nonsense is taking place (in) broad daylight across from a school where you know it’s very heavy traffic,” Harris said. “This is a main artery.”

There were additional evidence markers on Keele near the area where police were combing the scene, just outside York Memorial Presbyterian Church.

”I do understand that shootings like this do have a ripple effect, especially something like this happening so close to school on Day 2 of school,” Harris said.

“We are just as concerned as the area residents are.”

“I’m outraged and I’m extremely heartbroken by the shooting that occurred today,”聽TDSB Trustee Liban Hassan told the Star. “My heart聽goes out to the victims, students and families.”

Parents were waiting outside the school while their children were on lockdown inside, Hassan said, noting he’d spoken to students and their families. “They’re so scared. Some of them don’t know if it’s their child.”

Southbound lanes on Keele Street in the area had been shut down for the investigation.

Police have not released any details about the number of suspects or their identities, saying only that the individual in custody is a youth.聽

it was “shocked but not surprised by yet another incident of gun violence in our city involving young people,” in a statement on social media.

News that an “innocent bystander” was caught in the crossfire “is tragic,” the association said.

“We are confident our members will do what鈥檚 necessary to find those responsible.”

With files from Kristjan Lautens and Patty Winsa