Deadly shooting causes lockdown in Union Station

A man has died following a shooting outside Union Station Saturday evening.

The transit hub was placed under a two-hour lockdown after the shooting near the city’s Entertainment District left a man in “life-threatening” condition.

Police located the man with a gunshot wound around 7:50 p.m. at the corner of York Street and Bremner Boulevard. Paramedics were on site to tend to the patient who succumbed to his injuries.

Police are describing the attack as targeted and believe there are two outstanding suspects. The homicide unit has taken over the investigation.

At around 8:30 p.m., the police described the area as being a “big scene” with heavy crowds due to a number of events happening downtown. Videos on social media showed evacuated crowds around the station, many wearing Blue Jays jerseys and hats as the team played earlier in the evening.

Other events Saturday included Honda Indy Toronto as well as a slew of festivals, concerts and cultural events across the downtown core.

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Suri Diaz, who was travelling through Union Station, described a chaotic scene which allegedly included a tactical team on site. Diaz said she saw someone get apprehended by police after she was evacuated from the station. She believes she also saw the victim transported away from the scene by paramedics.

The TTC and Metrolinx both resumed service around 10 p.m.

Anne Marie Aikins, chief spokesperson for Metrolinx, tweeted that she happened to be at Union Station at the time of the incident, saying that thousands of people left “calmly” in spite of the “scary” circumstances.

According to the Union Station website, the downtown transit hub serves over 300,000 travellers daily on GO trains and buses, VIA, UP Express and the TTC.

July 16 also marks the 10-year anniversary of the Danzig shooting in Scarborough, in which more than 20 people were injured and two killed.

Aisling Murphy is a reporter for the Star’s radio room based in Toronto. Reach her via email: aislingmurphy@thestar.ca

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