If you live in Toronto, or anywhere in the GTA chances you already heard about it.
A standoff with a man believed to have a gun that closed the intersection of Yonge and Gerrard Sts. for two hours Tuesday morning ended peacefully shortly before 9 a.m.
Police cars with flashing lights had hemmed in a black sedan in the northbound lane of Yonge St. shortly after receiving a call at 6:50 a.m. of a man with a gun in a car at Dundas Square, Toronto police Supt. Hugh Ferguson said.
As the minutes ticked away, six police cars surrounded the black Nissan Altima and tactical units moved in.
Another five police cars closed the downtown main drag from College Street to south of Gerrard.
By 8:30 a.m., a tactical police officer in body armour had an assault rifle trained on the car as negotiators continued their work.
Police negotiators persuaded the man to leave the car at 8:50 a.m. Ferguson said the man was taken away for questioning along with a second person in the car.
No weapon has been recovered, Ferguson said, and police were searching the ground around the standoff.
“Both individuals came out on their own after a period of negotiation,” he said, adding “I have no reason not to believe” it was a credible 911 call.
A young man crept slowly from the car, his arm outstretched, as the standoff ended.
The man, his black hoodie pulled down, was led off by police at 8:52 a.m. as tactical officers swarmed the black sedan.
Cops: “DROP THE GUN!”
Guy: “What gun? What are you talking about?”
Cops: “PUT THE GUN DOWN NOW!”
Guy: “Dude, I’m just out testing the sweet new CAI on my Altima!”
Well I’d imagine if he didn’t have a gun to begin with and the woman on the 911 call was just mistaken that the situation would have been resolved quickly. But something kept them from getting out of the car and cooperating.
well he did have like 2 hours to think about where he could put the gun, if he ever did have one. could be deep in his asshole by the time they pulled him out
Well looks like he never had a gun, lol. 50 police officers for a guy who was just hungry and wanted pizza;
The mother of a Mississauga man who sparked chaos downtown in a two-hour standoff with about 50 Toronto police officers and a tactical unit Tuesday morning, said her son is schizophrenic and bipolar, not a violent offender.
And police should know from past experience that Nigel Elder, 34, has medical issues, said his mother, Maria.
Just over a year ago, someone notified police that he was waving a gun while driving home from work, Maria Elder said. She was leaving the house and noticed “a commotion” nearby.
She saw her son in a police cruiser and realized he needed his medication, which she got for him. He has suffered from the illness for 15 years and must take medication every day, she said, adding her son has never carried a gun.
His only brushes with the law have been over marijuana charges.
Elder was with a friend. They were hungry, so Elder parked at Yonge and Gerrard Sts. and walked to a pizza shop that turned out to be closed.
“Next thing, he got back into the car, and we saw guns drawn,” the friend said.
“I was telling the officers that we had no gun, but nobody cared what I had to say,” the friend said. “I got out and was apprehended like a criminal.”
Elder stayed behind in the car, too scared to get out, his mother said. He finally surrendered at about 9 a.m.
No gun was found.
The friend was released without charge, while Nigel Elder was charged with one count of possession of marijuana and another of failing to have a licence.
