As Toronto teen lay dying, witness says health centre ignored cries for help
Moments after he was shot in Toronto's Weston neighbourhood Saturday night, a teenage boy lay bleeding out in front of a local health-care centre — and one witness says her repeated cries for help at the facility's front door were ignored.
Now, Dacota Carriere says she is speaking out to draw attention both to the lack of assistance the teen — identified by police Wednesday evening as Jakhai Jack — received at West Park Healthcare Centre, and to join other witnesses in lamenting long 911 wait times that night as the life slipped from the 15-year-old's body.
"The boy was fighting up until his last moments," Carriere told CBC News Wednesday.
"I truly believe if first responders had come immediately when they were needed, or he got the attention he needed right away, I truly believe he would have survived with the amount of fight he had in him."
Carriere was at the health-care centre at 170 Emmett Ave. Saturday night around 10 p.m. She and some friends, who are car enthusiasts, were taking photos of their vehicles in the parking lot because of its recently renovated lighting.
The University Health Network-run facility is not a hospital, but instead provides specialized rehabilitation care after life-altering illness or injury like amputation, stroke and lung disease, according to the UHN website. A spokesperson told CBC News in an email the facility doesn't have emergency care facilities and during evening hours nurses provide care to inpatient units, while doctors are on call but not routinely on site.
"Should there be an emergency on the property, our first response would involve the attendance of security personnel and/or a call to 9-1-1," Ana Fernandes said in a statement.
WATCH | Neighbour recounts trying to help shooting victim:
Neighbours say they were on hold for several minutes while shooting victim was still alive
2 days ago
Duration 2:35
Carriere said she and her friends were hanging out in the parking lot when they first heard five gunshots in the distance. Shortly after, a young male came running past and said he had been filming a music video down the street when a shooting happened.
He asked for a ride, but the crowd declined without knowing if the situation was safe, and the male ran off, she said. Then, about five minutes later, a grey Nissan abruptly pulled into the parking lot with an injured teen in the back seat.
Cries for help ignored
The driver and two other teens got out and pulled the injured boy onto the ground. The driver said he didn't know the boy and then drove away, Carriere said. A neighbour previously told CBC News that he had helped get the victim into a vehicle so that he could be driven to a nearby health facility.
Panic broke out, and Carriere and her friends started pulling microfibre towels out of their trunks in an effort to stop the bleeding. While the boy's friends applied pressure to his chest wound, she ran to the front door of the health centre hoping to find help.
"I understood that it was a health-care centre and not a hospital who has an emergency department — but still, putting two and two together, there has to be nurses there," Carriere said.
"I see nurses in the lobby, I see security guards. I even made eye contact with many of them. And despite me clearly being in distress, none of them — not one — came outside to help."
Fernandes, UHN's spokesperson, referred questions about the situation to Toronto police, citing the ongoing investigation.
"UHN joins the community in expressing our deepest condolences to the young man's family and loved ones mourning this heartbreaking loss," she said.
Emergency crews arrive
One of Carriere's friends was eventually able to wave down a passing police car, and emergency crews arrived soon after, she said.
Toronto police confirmed Wednesday that paramedics transported Jack from the health-care centre to a trauma centre on Saturday night, where he was later pronounced dead. No suspect information has been released.
Jack was still conscious, talking, and trying to stand when he was first dropped off at the health centre, Carriere said.
"He had honestly a surprising amount of energy," she said. But by the time Jack was loaded into an ambulance, he appeared to be unconscious.
"His eyes were closed and his mouth was open. He was no longer moving, but the police informed us when they loaded him in the ambulance that he was still breathing," she said.
City to review incident
Carriere said that days later, she still can't stop thinking about the incident — compounded by the fact that she was also stuck on hold with 911 for several minutes that night. A neighbour previously shared a similar story with CBC News.
"I believe the aid to this boy was primarily by bystanders, which saddens me, especially because we are right outside a health-care centre," she said.
In a statement, Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer told CBC News that the first call about gunshots linked to this incident came in at 10:01 p.m. Saturday night after waiting on hold for six minutes and 43 seconds. Emergency responders found the boy by 10:11 p.m., she said.
"This was too long, and we're not suggesting otherwise. But it's also important to understand the broader context," Sayer said, adding that "major incidents" can cause a surge of 911 calls about the same event and cause "temporary delays" in the call queue.
Toronto police's 911 communications centre is the busiest in Canada, Sayer said, and police are trying to improve response times through hiring and modernizing its systems. So far this year, the average wait time to reach an operator is one minute and two seconds, according to police.
"We understand the concern and are committed to ensuring that emergency calls are answered and actioned as quickly as possible," Sayer said.
City of Toronto officials have pledged to review the emergency services response in the wake of the incident.
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