Toronto police say no one was found inside a downtown building where officers had been investigating unconfirmed reports of a man with a handgun and a possible hostage situation.
At around 4:45 p.m., several hours after a busy stretch of King Street West was cordoned off for the investigation, Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook told reporters that the Emergency Task Force had conducted a thorough search of the building.
“At this point yes, it appears it was a false alarm,” she said.
Just after 1 p.m. on Thursday, Toronto police said they received a report that a person with a gun was seen inside a business near King and Charlotte streets in the Entertainment District.
“The reports were that a man with a gun had taken someone from off of the street and forced them into a building,” Const. David Hopkinson said.
Hopkinson said police on scene were treating the incident as a possible hostage situation, though they had not determined whether anyone was in the building.
“Between the time that we got the call and when the officers arrived — which is not a lot of time — we don’t know what happened, but we’ve responded as if there’s somebody in that building that is potentially holding somebody hostage,” he said.
Brian Solomonian, a manger at a pop-up shop in the area, said he was “pleased” it was a false alarm.
“We saw the police arrive and it was later when they had the armoured vehicle arrive that we knew something more serious was going on,” he said.
Solomonian said he agreed with the extreme caution police took in the situation.
“It was a normal measure to take and quite frankly I think they handled it properly — the area was secured, nobody was injured.”
Rhys Jenkins, owner of Peacok Bar located inside the building in question, was actually in the establishment when the incident was in progress. He told Global News he only realized something was going on when people started to message him.
Jenkins said he went upstairs to check and saw police surrounding the building. He called 911 and police were able to escort him safely out of the building.
“It’s scary,” Jenkins said of the situation. “But to know that it was a false alarm, that’s good that no one was hurt. Everyone is safe, everyone in the building is safe.
King Street West, which was closed from Blue Jays Way to Spadina Avenue, has since reopened.
—With files from Shallima Maharaj and Jessica Patton
–With files from Don Mitchell