'False alarm' after report of possible hostage-taking in downtown Toronto ends without incident

Emergency task force members converged on a building in downtown Toronto today for what police believed could be a hostage-taking, but after it turned out to be a false alarm, the lawyer representing the building's landlord hopes the person behind the call will be prosecuted.​

At least a dozen officers could be seen stationed outside an establishment in the King Street West and Charlotte Street area after police received a call around 1 p.m. reporting a man with a gun.

According to the call, one man had grabbed another off the street and forced him into the building not far from the Entertainment District.

Around 4 p.m. ETF members performed a "soft entry," conducted a search of the premises and found no one inside, said Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook.

'Swatting' a possibility

"It appears that this was a false alarm," she told reporters as police began to clear the scene. "Fortunately, they were able to go in and determine that there is no one in the establishment and everyone is safe. We're grateful for that."

Douglas-Cook said ETF members were sent in after police made multiple attempts to contact the building's occupants but received no response.

"The steps that we took also were just out of concern because we were not able to confirm whether or not there was, in fact, someone in there," she said. "We always have to treat it as if it is in fact someone there with the potential hostage, and we have to take the steps that we did in terms of closing the street down."

Asked if the situation was an instance of "swatting," or a hoax call, Douglas-Cook said, "There is that possibility. It's an unfortunate thing that people seem to think that there is humour in a situation like this."

Toronto Transit Commission streetcars were forced to bypass the area and paramedics were deployed to the scene.

"That in itself is quite a few resources," Douglas-Cook said.

"We always have to treat this as if it's a real situation and just go in and take the precautions that we need to."

Pot dispensary in building

Sal Vescio, who has owned the property since 1979, said the building contained a marijuana dispensary. Three nightclubs are also located there, he said.

Vescio wouldn't say if the dispensary was open Thursday, but said the tenants who run it have reviewed video footage and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"I did get in touch with them. They have a camera. Nothing is there, [no one] was going inside with any gun," he said.

But he has many questions, including who called police to the dispensary.

"It was a good end, but why did it have to be this end? For what? For a phone call? Somebody received a phone call?"

Meanwhile, his lawyer, Paul Voinea, told CBC News that he wants the person who made the call to be prosecuted.

"My issue is what consequences are there going to be to this? The fact that normal businesses are being harassed by certain individuals is extremely unfortunate.… All this loss of profit, and as well as individuals that live in the area being harassed by somebody that for some reason wants to make a fake call."

Speaking to CBC News on Thursday evening, police said their investigation is continuing, but wouldn't comment on allegations that the call was purposely made to target the location.

King Street West was shut down between Charlotte Street and Blue Jays Way for the investigation, but the area has since reopened.