Teen shootings prompt Hamilton mayor to propose creation of Youth Wellness Hub

Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath will be putting forward a motion on Wednesday to create a Youth Wellness Hub in the city. It comes after a number of shootings involving teen suspects and victims.

The concerns around youth safety and gun violence has been top of mind for a while now but has increased within the last month because of shootings involving youth.

Many are worried about the existence of guns on the streets, mental health, trauma, gang recruitment and lack of access to support.

Four shootings in particular are referenced in the motion — all of them involving youth gun violence and young offenders.

In 2025, two innocent bystanders were killed, Harsimrat Randhawa and Belinda Sarkodie, whose deaths shook the community.

Most recently, a 14-year-old boy faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Nabil Askafe on April 24.

Just under a week later, 19-year-old Talon Williams-Parkin was shot and killed at a building in downtown Hamilton on April 30. Police recovered the gun used in the shooting but the two suspects remain at large.

WATCH MORE: Parents hope teen’s violent death leads to changes that make Hamilton safer

A Youth Wellness Hub would offer a wide-range of support and would be tailored to the needs of young people in Hamilton between the ages of 12 and 25.

There are already 32 of them across the province, with one of them being in Welland, Ont. So if this motion passes on Wednesday, staff would work to create a wellness hub that aligns with the city’s specific needs.

Mayor Horwath’s motion also calls on the province to provide funding to support the initiative.

“Since 2019, nearly 80,000 youth have made over 423,000 visits to Youth Wellness Hubs across the province,” a spokesperson for the Minister of Health tells CHCH News in a statement. “To build on this success, we are investing an additional $8.3 million into the program to expand the number of Youth Wellness Hubs to 32.”

The Mayor’s motion says that the need for youth support is even greater now that federal support for the city’s “Building Safer Communities Fund” ended on March 31. That affects nine youth-serving agencies including The Boys and Girls Club, the YMCA and the YWCA.

The discussion of youth violence is only going to continue this month when Hamilton police Chief Frank Bergen sits down with community leaders on May 27 to discuss youth violence and safety.

READ MORE: Hamilton police find weapon used in downtown shooting of 19-year-old