At least two people were shot and seriously injured near a massive gathering of Toronto Raptors fans celebrating the team’s recent NBA Championship, local police said.
“Reports of woman shot,” Toronto police tweeted Monday afternoon. “People running from area. Police/EMS are on scene.”
SHOOTING:
Nathan Phillip’s Square
-Reports of woman shot
-People running from area
-Police/EMS are on scene
-Unknown what the injuries are#GO112676
^dh— Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) June 17, 2019
Hundreds of thousands of fans were gathered in the city’s Nathan Phillips Square, where players and coaches were giving speeches and celebrating.
Gunshots fired at the parade at the back south east corner of Nathan Phillips Square. One witness said four shots. Crowd ran. There is a victim down being given medical attention, surrounded by a crowd, and police are clearing people from the area. Speeches are still going on.
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) June 17, 2019
Videos from the scene showed frightened fans running for their lives.
And again. People running away from the right side. Not sure what’s going on pic.twitter.com/1fEoGoaVMl
— Meagan Fitzpatrick (@fitzpatrick_m) June 17, 2019
There has been a reported shooting near the Raptors parade. Everyone in Toronto please be safe right now ??♥️
This is not what this day should be remembered for. So sad… pic.twitter.com/M6rM17Nzhp
— Baseline Hoops (@baseline_hoops) June 17, 2019
Fans gathered at the scene reported police swarming the area and telling people to “get down.”
In a later tweet, Toronto police said the two people shot were “seriously injured,” but their injuries were not life-threatening. Two suspects are in police custody and the authorities said they recovered two firearms from the scene.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
