A 15-year-old student has died after being shot at a school in Toronto's north end on Wednesday, police said.

The boy was rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital in critical condition after he was found at about 2:30 p.m. ET in a hallway of C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute.

A 15-year-old boy was rushed to hospital after a shooting at C.W. Jeffreys Colligiate Institute.
(CBC)

Toronto police confirmed just before 5 p.m. that the teen had died of a single gunshot wound.

"It's shocking such a crime could take place in our schools," Chief Bill Blair told reporters after the shooting. "It's a very serious matter.… A young student has lost his life in a school, and that should be a safe environment."

The boy has been identified as Jordan Manners, a Grade 9 student. Police have not named any suspects or made any arrests. 

There were reports of a fight outside the school before the shooter followed the student inside.

The school on Sentinel Road, near Finch Avenue West and Keele Street, went into lockdown mode after the shooting. Students were held in classrooms and the library as police officers combed the hallways and rooms for evidence and any signs of danger.

Parents gathered outside the school, many crying as they tried to reach their children inside by cellphone.

"I want to know what happened. My son is inside. He's in Grade 10," one woman told CBC News, her eyes filled with tears. "I want to know if someone can say something, if he's OK or no."

At 6 p.m., students were ushered out of the school and boarded onto city buses, then reunited with their families at a nearby middle school. One girl was taken to hospital in shock, but there were no other reported injuries.

Family member sobs when told of death

The victim's family congregated at the hospital shortly after the boy arrived there and one woman sobbed loudly when she heard of the boy's death. The family was eventually joined by some students from C.W. Jefferys.

There were reports of a fight outside the school before the shooter followed the student inside at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in north Toronto Wednesday afternoon.
(CBC)

The shooting happened near the school's swimming pool and was originally called in to police as a drowning.

About 850 students attend the school and many have already posted tributes to the victim on the website Facebook.

Shortly after the shooting, Ontario's premier expressed his condolences to the victim's family.

"I also know I speak for all Ontarians when I condemn and deplore the violence we've seen here today," Dalton McGuinty said in a written statement. "I want the entire community at C.W. Jefferys C.I. to know that they are in my thoughts and prayers at this difficult time."

Toronto Mayor David Miller said the situation shows the need for stricter gun control. He said handguns are too accessible, as people can steal them from collectors in Toronto or smuggle them into Canada from the United States.

"We have to, I think, make a statement in Canada that handguns are not acceptable anymore," Miller told CBC News.