17-year-old female shot with replica firearm in Brampton

Peel Regional Police are searching for a male suspect after a 17-year-old female was shot with a replica firearm in Brampton.

Officers were called to a plaza on Central Park Drive near Williams Parkway and Bramalea Road following reports of a daytime shooting around 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

An employee of the Pizza Pizza in the plaza tells CityNews up to 30 students were inside the restaurant when the shooting took place and the girl collapsed on their doorstep. The employee quickly ran down to the nearby walk-in clinic and summoned a doctor to help treat the teen.

A police spokesperson told CityNews the teenage girl had multiple wounds to her leg.

Const. Sarah Patten initially told reporters at the scene the girl was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

At one point it was unclear if the weapon used was a real gun or a replica. Peel police confirmed the suspect shot the victim with a replica firearm.

Eight area schools were under a hold and secure for much of Friday, while one school was placed into lockdown. All of those protocols have since been lifted.

Police believe the suspect is a student at Judith Nyman Secondary School, and while they don’t believe he returned to the school, there was a large police presence outside the school for much of the afternoon.

The owner of the Pizza Pizza tells CityNews they have surveillance video which shows the suspect and the victim walking together and arguing as they were walking from the Shoppers Drug Mart to the restaurant.

Officers are searching for a male suspect but police say they know who they are looking for and expect to make an quick arrest.