Four people suffered gunshot wounds while at the Toronto Raptors championship parade. Thankfully, none of those injured are considered to be in life-threatening condition. Three people have been arrested in regards to the shooting.
SHOOTING:
Nathan Phillip's Square
**Update**
-4 victims located
-None of the injuries are life threatening
-3 people arrested
-2 firearms recovered
-Investigators wish any video to assist in investigation
-Please use portal: https://t.co/NGv3aZdlDO
^dh— Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) June 17, 2019
A large amount of Raptors fans could be seen running from the incident in a square that had been packed with tens of thousands of people. As a result, a number of people had suffered injuries from trying to get away from the scene.
Back inside looking over footage from the roof, this was shortly before @SteveRussell and I started to see swarms of people running: pic.twitter.com/0LWaulM8hy
— Jennifer Pagliaro (@jpags) June 17, 2019
While one of the owners was giving a speech, host Matt Devlin calmly announced a brief suspension of Championship festivities. Devlin has been a Raptors play-by-play announcer since 2008. He then promised more information soon and reminding fans they were there to celebrate.
The Raptors ceremony has been interrupted for a serious incident. pic.twitter.com/JIzOuNzvsb
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) June 17, 2019
Raptors staff and players remained on stage in silence for a few moments until festivities were cleared to resume.
It was estimated that nearly 2 million people had come to celebrate the Raptors victory over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. This was the first championship in Raptors franchise history and the first for Toronto in the four major sports since the Blue Jays in 1993. There were already safety and overcrowding concerns before the incident. The Raptors parade was delayed for a few hours with fans blocking the road on the parade routes.
