MONTREAL: Police in Canada’s largest city Toronto on Thursday fatally shot a man armed with a rifle, local media reported, in an incident that forced several schools into lockdown just two days after a deadly assault on a US primary school.
Bystanders alerted police to the man’s presence in an eastern neighborhood of Toronto, and the circumstances of what transpired next were not immediately clear.
But city police chief James Ramer told reporters that the suspect, described as a man in his late teens or early 20s, was dead after he had “confronted” responding officers, without elaborating.
The police force’s Twitter account said that after officers located the man, a “police firearm” was “discharged.”
A spokeswoman for the Special Investigations Unit told the CBC that preliminary evidence showed that two police officers had fired their weapons, and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
It was not clear if the man was holding the weapon when police shot him.
Ramer said he was unable to offer more details, as the incident was under investigation.
“There’s no threat to public safety,” he said.
“Due to the proximity to a school, I certainly understand the trauma and how traumatic this must have been for staff, students and parents, given recent events that have happened in the United States,” the chief added.
On Tuesday, a shooting at a Texas elementary school left 21 dead — 19 children and two teachers.
Canada police shoot man in Toronto seen with rifle near school
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Canada police shoot man in Toronto seen with rifle near school
- Bystanders alerted police to the man’s presence in an eastern neighborhood of Toronto
20 nations back Somalia sovereignty, condemn Israeli FM visit to Somaliland as illegal: joint statement
RIYADH: More than twenty nations have reaffirmed Somalia’s sovereignty and denounced the recent visit of Israel’s foreign minister to Somaliland, a separatist region of Somalia, according to a joint statement issued early on Friday.
The nations dismissed Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as an independent state, reaffirmed Somalia’s territorial integrity, and urged Israel to revoke its recognition of Somaliland immediately.
The 21 nations are Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Comoros, Djabouti, Egypt, The Gambia, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, and Turkiye. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, an international body representing most Muslim-majority nations, also endorsed the statement.
The nations condemned Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visit to Somaliland on Tuesday, days after Israel became the only country to formally recognize the break-away region of Somalia.
The statement said that encouraging “secessionist agendas are unacceptable and risk exacerbating tensions in an already fragile region” and praised Somalia’s commitment to peaceful international engagement and adherence to international law.
On Tuesday Saar wrote on X: “We are determined to vigorously advance relations between Israel and Somaliland,” alongside images of him meeting the Somaliland leader at the presidential palace.
Saar said Somaliland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, had accepted an invitation from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make an official visit to Israel.
Somaliland has denied recognition allows for Israel to establish military bases there or for the resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza. Israel has advocated for what Israeli officials describe as voluntary Palestinian migration from Gaza.
* With Reuters
