Teen arrested after alleged machete attack near North York high school

A Toronto teenager is facing charges after an alleged machete attack outside a high school in North York earlier this week.

Emergency crews were called to the Bathurst Street and Finch Avenue West around 3:40 p.m. Monday for reports of a person with a knife, believed to be a machete.

Police allege a male youth was standing in a parking lot with friends when a suspect began running towards him.

The male started to run away but tripped and fell to the ground before the suspect caught up to him and allegedly stabbed him several times. The suspect ran away on foot.

The victim was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Toronto police have arrested a 17-year-old from Toronto. He is facing five charges including aggravated assault and two counts of assault with a weapon.

The accused, who cannot be named due to provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was scheduled to appear in a Toronto courtroom on Wednesday afternoon.

Nearby Northview Heights Secondary School was briefly placed in lockdown on Monday afternoon before students were let out for the day. The same school was temporarily placed in lockdown on Tuesday after similar reports of a masked person carrying a machete, which turned out to be false.

Investigators have not said whether the victim or student in Monday’s incident are students at the school.