The Toronto Police Service said it was stepping up patrols “out of an abundance of caution” after an explosion at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing on Wednesday, though the New York governor has since said the incident was an accident.
“Due to today’s incident at the Canada-US border, we will be increasing directed patrols of uniformed officers throughout the city,” the service said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This is out of an abundance of caution and there are no known threats for the city of Toronto.”
Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw said the service regularly works with national and provincial law enforcement to “ensure coordination and information sharing.”
In the U.S., the FBI said earlier Wednesday that it was investigating a “vehicle explosion” at the Rainbow Bridge, which connects the cities of Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Niagara Falls, Ont.
Later on Wednesday, New York’s governor said the explosion was a “horrific accident” and not an act of terrorism. It is now a traffic investigation.
Prior to the explosion being declared an accident, police in Peel Region also confirmed more officers were deployed to Toronto Pearson International Airport.
The airport’s operator, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said in a statement to Global News that it was aware of the incident at the Rainbow Bridge and was in contact with federal authorities.
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The GTAA said it requested the additional police presence at the airport.
There was no impact to airport operations, the GTAA said.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Provincial Police said in a statement that there is no known threat to public safety in Ontario at this time.
“We will continue to work with our policing partners to actively monitor the situation,” the OPP said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul directed New York State Police to work with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force to monitor all points of entry into the state after the incident initially occurred.
On Wednesday evening, FBI Buffalo said it had concluded its investigation.
“A search of the scene revealed no explosive materials, and no terrorism nexus was identified. The matter has been turned over to the Niagara Falls Police Department as a traffic investigation,” the service said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
— With files from Naomi Barghiel and Sean Boynton
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