City on alert after van incident
Without knowing what sparked a horrific rampage on Yonge St. killing 10 people and injuring 15 more, police services and Metrolinx beefed up security across the city. Other agencies were on standby.
As Sunnybrook hospital’s doctors and nurses received a number of patients from the scene shortly after a rental van plowed down pedestrians, Monday, it increased security and locked down its emergency room, spokesperson Craig DuHamel said.
GO Transit sent additional transit safety officers to Union Station until it “knew for certain whatever this horrific incident is or isn’t, out of an abundance of caution,” said Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins.
New York City police an- nounced it would be deploying counter-terror officers in and around Toronto as a precaution.
“The incidents that happened on the street are horrendous but they appear to not be connected in anyway to national security,” said Ralph Goodale, minister of public safety, at an evening news conference.
Police Chief Mark Saunders added it was too early in the investigation to dismiss a terrorism motive, but so far there was no evidence that pointed to it.
“This is very early in the investigation, there’s no avenue we won’t explore,” Saunders told reporters. “We open all lanes at the start and follow wherever the evidence takes us.”
Toronto police called in its evening and midnight crews early to help with the investiga- tion, and non-uniformed officers are on standby, Saunders said. It will take some time to process the scene and the investigation is ongoing.
Toronto police are leading the investigation, with assistance from the Ontario Provincial Police and RCMP.
If it was a terror-related incident, the OPP would wait for directions from the RCMP who are primarily responsible for national security, said OPP Staff Sgt. Carol Dionne. The OPP also has an anti-terrorism unit. The RCMP did not provide comment.
The Toronto Transit Commission worked closely with police, and suspended Line 1 subway service between Sheppard and Finch Aves., said spokesperson Stuart Green. The TTC will continue to follow police directions.
The City of Toronto also de- ferred to police, saying it would add security if law enforcement determined there was a terrorism incident or threat, or if the national terrorism threat increased from its current level of medium.
Metrolinx was also watching the national threat level, said Aikins. It sent out an email to staff to be “particularly sensitive to suspicious things and to report them.”
Metrolinx has two offices close to where the incident happened, one of which has 200 staff. At the same time the van plowed into pedestrians, many were heading back to the office after grabbing lunch and enjoying the spring weather, Aikins said.
“They have witnessed an awful, awful horrific event and one had to leap out of the way,” she said.