Two people were shot and two people taken into custody on the edge of the Toronto Raptors’ victory parade in their hometown on Monday, as the team celebrated its N.B.A. championship with thousands of fans and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada.
The Toronto Police said that two victims had suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries, and that officers had recovered two firearms. CP24, a television news channel, broadcast a photograph of several police officers pinning down one of the detained people outside of a subway entrance about a block from the celebration.
The Toronto Transit Commission confirmed that two of its special constables were involved in an arrest outside of the station entrance.
The victory celebration, in front of Toronto’s City Hall, continued despite the shooting, and there was no obvious increase in security around the stage, where guests included the prime minister. Matt Devlin, the Raptors’ television announcer, did interrupt the celebration ceremonies at one point, temporarily silencing the crowd.
“I’m getting information that we’re dealing with a situation not far from here, this is serious,” he said, without offering details, before repeatedly asking the crowd to remain calm. Not long afterward, the introduction of the players, who had arrived on double-decker buses following a five-hour parade, resumed.
The shooting took place near Nathan Phillips Square, the Toronto Police said, in a major downtown intersection that had been closed to traffic for the celebration.
Videos posted on social media and broadcast on television showed two surges of people running in panic on an adjacent street. At least one woman was trampled and taken into a courthouse before she could be removed by ambulance. Many people in the crowd had been setting off fireworks throughout the day in the square, and their sound apparently masked the gunshots.
The square was filled to its estimated capacity of about 60,000 people, with the crowd spilling out into adjacent streets.
Television images showed blood on the road near a pile of clothing and, along Bay and Queen Streets, shoes that had fallen off and a stroller that was abandoned during the brief panic.
The incident occurred near a fenced-off area designated for broadcasters’ production trucks. It too was evacuated.
Source : Nytimes
