After four people were injured Monday in a shooting during the Toronto Raptors’ NBA Championship celebration, Canadian officials urged the public to not let it undermine a mostly peaceful commemoration of a historic win.
“I hope all those injured in today’s shooting have a speedy recovery and I’d like to thank the Toronto Police for acting so quickly,” Prime Minister Trudeau said on Twitter. “We won’t let this act of violence take away from the spirit of today’s parade.”
The victims of the gunfire suffered “non-life threatening” injuries in the shooting near the rally in Nathan Phillips Square, as the arrest of three individuals was quick and in two separate incidents connected to the shooting.
It was insisted that the incident affected a small group of people during an otherwise jubilant celebration as out of the thousands of people in attendance, the vast majority didn’t even know it happened. Images on social media showed people running from the scene and many images suggested a “stampede” like reaction to the gunfire.
Since, the names of the three men that were charged in connection to the gunfire were released. Shaquille Anthony Miller, 25, and Thaino Toussaint, 20, appeared in court on Tuesday, charged with a string of firearms-related charges. The third man, 18-year-old Abdikarim Kerow, faces multiple charges stemming from an earlier incident.
However, police say they are also looking to identify a person of interest who left the scene of the shooting who was described as caucasian, male, 5’9″ to 6′ with short, light brown hair and a heavy build.
The shooting brought negative attention to the otherwise historic celebration as the Raptors’ victory which marked not only its first NBA title, but its first time reaching the NBA Finals in its 24-season history. The celebration began Monday afternoon with a parade featuring open-air double-decker buses carrying the team before arriving at Nathan Phillips Square.