Gunfire Erupts at Raptors Rally

4 people were injured in the shooting
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 17, 2019 4:45 PM CDT
Gunfire Erupts at Raptors Rally
First responders attend to an injured person after shots were fired during the Toronto Raptors NBA basketball championship victory celebration near Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto, Monday, June 17, 2019.   (Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press via AP)

Shots rang out Monday at a massive rally celebrating the Toronto Raptors' NBA championship victory, the Toronto Star reports. In a crowd outside Toronto's city hall—where team members spoke from a stage—police say four people suffered non-life-threatening injuries, three were arrested, and two firearms were recovered. Many fans fled the area before word of mouth triggered a stampede of others screaming and hiding in the bushes, per the Globe & Mail.

"We tried our best to escape," says a bystander. "We saw a lady get trampled, a pregnant woman fall. We saw some kids getting trampled and parents trying to protect them." The four wounded people sustained "injuries related to the shooting," police said in a statement without elaborating. The ceremony was briefly delayed until an emcee appeared on stage and told the crowd to stay calm. Roughly 65,000 people were estimated to be in Nathan Phillips Square outside city hall at the time, per Global News. (More shooting stories.)

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