A joint press conference with Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne was disrupted Thursday morning after a woman demanding to meet with the mayor started screaming and yelling profanities.
The incident happened just after 10 a.m. following a meeting between the political leaders.
Journalists were huddled inside the press room with Tory and Wynne when a woman outside of the mayor’s office started screaming.
READ MORE: Vehicle barriers to be installed at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square
“There’s a bullet in my f*****g window,” the woman was heard saying.
Both Wynne and Tory appeared stunned as the yelling grew louder. The premier stood at the podium for several minutes before she and the mayor left the room.
When Tory returned to speak to reporters, he said the woman was concerned with her housing and that officials would reach out to her for help.
The mayor said enhanced security at city hall has been under discussion in recent months in light of emerging threats and terrorism.
WATCH: News conference interrupted after woman screams, demands meeting with mayor. Caryn Lieberman reports.
“It is one of the things that comes with, and I say that in a very positive way, it comes with having a very open building where people can come right to the office of their elected representatives, including the mayor, and tell us about some of the challenges they face,” Tory said.
Get breaking National news
“The premier and I were talking about this as we walked in the building this morning. She was saying how refreshing it is to see people actually in the rotunda of the city hall doing business with the city government.”
The woman later told Global News that during a shooting Monday evening, a bullet pierced through her kitchen window while she was steps away. When asked about the outburst, she said she felt no one was listening. Toronto Community Housing, the organization that owns the property, said it mounted plexi-glass to cover the bullet hole until the window can be replaced on Friday.
READ MORE: Airport-style security measures proposed at Toronto City Hall
- Michael Kovrig reflects on ‘brutally hard’ Chinese detention: ‘You’re totally alone’
- Conservatives set to table non-confidence motion Tuesday. What to expect
- After controversial directive, Quebec now says anglophones have right to English health services
- TD Bank moves to seize home of Russian-Canadian jailed for smuggling tech to Kremlin
City council last December approved the installation of perimeter posts surrounding city hall to protect the public if a vehicle were to mount the curb and target a crowd of people.
Tory said the municipal building remains an open space in which everyone is welcome.
“One of the things that came up in the context, as you know the discussion of security measures at city hall, was the fact that people can come to my office and come to the office of the councillors with the problems they have with the city government and I think that’s a good thing about the building,” Tory said.
City of Toronto spokesperson Wynna Brown told Global News staff will be reviewing the incident to see if “see if any modifications to procedures would be appropriate,” but added “at no time was anyone at risk” since security was involved at the time.
— With files from Caryn Lieberman and Nick Westoll
Comments