Two months after shooting, Eaton Centre still isn’t safe enough: Security expert

In the wake of Toronto's Eaton Centre shooting on June 2nd, mall storekeepers called for tighter security.

"In terms of security, the Eaton Centre is lacking," Sheryll Pagulayen, assistant manager at the Aldo shoe store near the food court, told the Globe and Mail following the shooting.

Two months later, one security expert is claiming that the mall is still lacking.

David Nako, owner of Nako Security and former security team member at the Eaton Centre, recently walked through the shopping mall and couldn't find any upgraded security measures since the food-court shooting that killed two and wounded five.

Nako told Newstalk 1010 that during his 40-minute walk he only spotted one security guard.

CBC News took a similar tour through the mall and also spotted just one guard.

"If you do have security there, such as when people start shoving, that's when it's important. If security is there they can make a call, back up comes in, the groups are split and escorted off. That's what stops the major problems from happening," Nako told Newstalk 1010.

Nako told CBC News that the Eaton Centre had several guards on duty a decade ago.

Nako emphasized that Torontonians need to see obvious signs of security improvements in order to feel safer.

"People are walking through and they're not seeing any changes," Nako said. "They're not seeing any extra security or any extra coverage of people putting cameras up in the ceiling."

Nako told CBC News that he doesn't understand why security efforts seems unchanged since the shooting.

"Where is the wake-up call?" he asked.

Officials from the Eaton Centre said in a statement to CBC News that security is their top priority — and that a person on the outside cannot fully understand or properly comment on the mall's security.

While an outside expert might not have access to what's really going on at the Eaton Centre, security-wise, surely a few visible upgrades would help put a city at ease.