Toronto police are seeking a fourth person in connection with a shooting during Mondayâs Raptors celebrations that injured four people and set off a panic in the crowd.
During a scrum with reporters on Tuesday, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said investigators were looking for a âperson of interestâ who he described as a white male between 5â9â and 6â feet tall with short light-brown hair and a heavy build. Saunders said the man was wearing a white button-down shirt and was last seen running westbound on Queen Street West.
âThere were definitely people that were there that saw and would probably have no idea in connecting the dots -- thatâs the person that weâre looking for,â he said.
Three suspects were arrested and two firearms were recovered soon after shots rang out at approximately 3:30 p.m., just after the Toronto Raptors team arrived at Nathan Phillips Square for a rally in honour of their NBA championship win.
Shaquille Anthony Miller, 25, Abdikarim Kerow, 18, and Thaino Toussaint, 20, of Toronto all appeared at Old City Hall court Tuesday at 10 a.m. on charges for firearm offences. Kerowâs charges related to a prior warrant for his arrest, police said in a statement.
Saunders said police are also looking for the gun involved in the shooting because the shell casings at the scene donât match the two firearms they already recovered.
âWhen we look at the casings, which identify that a gunshot has occurred, theyâre not matching right now, on first blush, the guns that we have seized,â he said.
The shooting occurred at the back of the square near Queen Street West and Bay Street and caused crowds of fans to flee in panic.
Several witnesses said they were trampled by other scared attendees who were rushing to escape the scene of the shooting.
Miriam Valdes-Carletti was one of those fans who was caught in the middle of the chaos moments after the shooting.
âI was standing right by the Toronto sign, pretty much in the middle of all of it, and all of a sudden I heard a rumbling, sort of like there was a herd of animals coming towards us and everyone turned around and we were just like whiplashed and trampled all over,â she recalled to CTVâs Your Morning on Tuesday.
The young woman said she fell to the ground, but a woman grabbed her arm and helped her up as people fled for safety.
âIt was just really scary. There were kids crying, like holding their moms. There were other people screaming âDonât lose me! Donât lose me!ââ she said. âThere were just so many people.â
Valdes-Carletti said she didnât see any police officers as she ran. However, Toronto Police Const. David Hopkinson said there was a âvery large police presence in the areaâ where the shooting occurred, which allowed them to reach the victims and suspects quickly.
The four victims all suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to Saunders.
The police chief said he doesnât yet have enough information to determine a possible motive behind the shootings.
âItâs still early with respect to magnitude of the occurrence and the situation and the amount of things that have to be combed through,â he said.
Saunders said they have already received video evidence and information that led to the arrest of a few suspects. He asked that any other witnesses âstep up and help usâ by uploading any vidoes or photos to . Witnesses can also call police at 416-808-5200 or contact Crime Stoppers.
âThe biggest thing we're looking for is witnesses because we can't have two million people in a small space and say nobody saw anything,â he said.
Security concerns
As the city appeared to return to normalcy on Tuesday, questions have been raised about the level of security at the event.
Brad Ross, the chief communications officer at the City of Toronto, said Mondayâs parade and rally were intended to be positive events.
âWe need to remember this is about celebration, not keeping people back, but allowing people to have fun,â he explained.
Ross said the police presence throughout the day was at the discretion of the Toronto Police Service and he could only comment that there were security measures in place.
âWe had barricades along the route. The barricades were essentially ignored by the fans,â he said. âWere they everywhere on both sides of the street? I donât believe they were, but they were certainly along key pieces of the route.â
The safety of fans became a concern when crowds gathered on the street only metres away from the double-decker buses carrying the Raptors, which caused significant delays throughout the parade.
âPeople surged onto the street and I think thatâs something thatâs part of our post-mortem and debrief on this event is what might we be able to do differently next time,â Ross said.
CTV Public Safety Analyst Chris Lewis said police tried to find the right balance between keeping people safe and maintaining a positive atmosphere.
âIf you get too restrictive then people start trying to violate that and that causes other problems,â he told ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Channel. âIf youâre too strict in terms of taking action on some people that are maybe walking out on the street that shouldnât, you have to really balance that out and not create arrests and fights and problems youâd rather not have.â
Lewis said he thought city officials and emergency crews did an âexcellent jobâ of organizing and monitoring the celebrations throughout the day.
âThey didnât have a real blueprint because theyâve never had two million people in the City of Toronto like that,â he said. âThey know how to do these things very well, they were just overwhelmed with the size of this to some degree.â
On Tuesday, Toronto Mayor John Tory said yesterday was a âgood dayâ for the city, despite the âreckless actionsâ of those who brought guns to the event. He said city officials would use the experience to ensure ânothing but the bestâ for future such events.
âOur City Manager Chris Murray will be working with Police, the TTC, other city departments and our sports teams to review the details of yesterday's parade & see how we can improve,â .