WARMINGTON: 2 youths arrested after weapons call at North York high school

No knife was found and no injuries were reported, while unverified footage of one the arrests was circulating on social media

Published Nov 03, 2026  •  Last updated 6 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

A Toronto Police cruiser. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Postmedia

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It’s always concerning when you see someone being arrested by police at a high school, as was captured on social media and displayed for the world to see on Tuesday.

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Toronto Police confirm it was not just one youth taken in by officers at Newtonbrook Secondary School on 155 Hilda Ave in North York, but two.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the two arrested male youths were students at the school.

There are no known injuries.

While unverified video footage circulating on social media did show one of the arrests, the reports that it was a gun call are not accurate, say police.

“There were reports of a person with the knife in the school, no mention of a gun,” Toronto Police spokesperson Const. Jaime Loomans said.

Two students arrested

While no knife was found on site, she said, “officers attended and arrested two male youths.”

Police are investigating and have so far not announced any charges.

What is known is that the “school was placed into a brief lockdown,” which was later lifted.

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The school did reach out to the parents of the students to update them on what transpired there.

Principal reached out to parents

“Dear Parents and Caregivers,” wrote Newtonbrook principal Melissa White. “At approximately 10:48 a.m. (Tuesday) school staff initiated a lockdown, following reports of a person possibly with a weapon in the school. Toronto Police were contacted and arrived on scene immediately to investigate.”

White told parents “the lockdown procedure included locking classroom doors and keeping students and staff inside their classrooms and other secured areas.” This was lifted at 11:52 p.m. and “no one was harmed during this incident.”

One thing that has changed in 2026 when something like this happens, is the immediacy of it all, via social media postings and the videos. In previous times, there might be rumours of an incident, but no visuals.

Social media video postings are now part of many police calls in 2026

The same social-media issues popped up one night earlier in a residential section of University of Toronto-Mississauga’s campus where a man barricaded himself in a residence and found himself in the middle of an armed standoff with Peel Regional Police, who were investigating him for an alleged assault with a weapon earlier in the day in Brampton.

The province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) deemed it to be death by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

But Peel Police spokesperson Const. Tyler Bell-Morena said there was a concern with the public and some of the students on campus live video-streaming the incident and showing the tactical officers in real-time, which could be a potential concern for police safety if a shooter was about to access logistics with the help of social media.

This is a good point, but a tricky situation in that, sometimes, if there is no video footage, you may never know about the incident.

However, when it comes to students in a high school or university or college being arrested, or a gun call stopped after shots are fired, the public always should know.

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