Global News reports that two people were shot near Nathan Phillips Square in the midst of the celebration of the Toronto Raptors winning the NBA Title over the Golden State Warriors. The shooting took place near the southeast corner of the Square at Bay and Albert streets shortly before 4 p.m.
Toronto police took to Twitter to reveal that there were two victims with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. In addition, they reported two people in custody, two firearms recovered, and both police and EMS on scene. However, they noted that the nature of the victims’ injuries is unknown.
After the shooting, politicians such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mayor John Tory, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford — who was previously booed from the crowd of Raptors fans — remained on stage as fans were told to stay calm. During this time several people, including Raptors coach Nick Nurse and broadcaster Matt Devlin, spoke to the crowd to keep them calm.
Vice News reports that in the aftermath of the shots, some people were nearly trampled and parents threw their children onto their backs in a scramble to get to safety.
“I’ve never felt like I was going to get shot before,” said Eleanor Simmons, who was walking on Queen Street West and taking photos and videos of the festival after the shots were fired.
“It’s not something I know how to process. I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
Once the commotion died down, the festivities continued.
‘I’ve never been so scared in my life.’ https://t.co/5M7mvvLx3R
— Josh Visser (@joshvisser) June 17, 2019
As The Inquisitr previously reported, the Toronto Raptors’ victory parade drew masses of people that brought the city to a screeching halt due to the shutdown of subway stations and closed down access to Nathan Phillips Square.
“I heard we getting 2million got the parade,” said point guard Kyle Lowry tweeted on Monday. “Grandma I know you front row already!!”
But Global News reports that 2 million is now the lower end of estimates for the number of people that flooded the streets of Toronto on Monday.
“This is awesome. It’s unbelievable to see so many people,” team president Masai Ujiri said from atop a convertible as he made his way down the parade route with his family.
“We said we’d win in Toronto. We’ve won in Toronto and we will continue to win in Toronto.”
“It’s awesome, it’s exciting, the people waiting at the airport last night,” Raptors’ coach Nick Nurse said of his trip home Saturday.
“I’m excited to see what it’s going to be like tomorrow.”
