A man is now facing several charges, Toronto police say, after allegedly threatening to shoot mayoral candidates on Thursday, which prompted some leading contenders to pause their campaigns and was followed by the cancellation of a debate.
In a news release issued Friday, police said they were called to the area of Mortimer and Greenwood avenues in the city’s east end around 10:45 a.m. Thursday.
They said a man “entered a location,” allegedly threatened to shoot mayoral candidates and then brandished what looked to be a gun.
Toronto Police spokesperson Victor Kwong said Friday that it was a “blanket threat.”
“There was no threat specifically to one mayoral candidate over another,” Kwong told reporters.
Investigators say 29-year-old Toronto man Junior Francois Lavagesse has been charged with two counts of weapons dangerous, carrying a concealed weapon, uttering threats, and failing to comply with a recognizance.
He is due to appear in court Friday morning.
Kwong said police are also investigating online threats that investigators were made aware of Thursday.
“That is going to be a separate investigation … we do believe that it is the same person responsible,” Kwong said.
Kwong said police will not provide further details of the location where the alleged threats were reported as they were “not related to the mayoral candidates” and in effort to protect witness privacy.
Debate cancelled out of ‘abundance of caution’
The incident led several leading candidates to cancel public appearances, and a debate that was scheduled to take place at The Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) University Thursday night was cancelled.
An OCAD spokesperson told CBC Toronto Friday that the event was cancelled “out of an abundance of caution,” after some candidates raised concerns for their safety.
Several candidates had withdrawn, including Brad Bradford, Josh Matlow and ex-police chief Mark Saunders.
Olivia Chow, Chloe Brown and Mitzie Hunter were also set to attend and Ana Bailão had previously pulled out of the debate over a scheduling conflict.
There were no reported injuries and several candidates issued statements saying they, along with their teams and families, were safe.
