TTC Donlands station robbed at gunpoint
The Donlands subway station was robbed at gunpoint overnight, according to police, the latest in a string of incidents that is prompting the TTC and transit union to reconsider safety protocols.
Two men wearing masks entered the station near Danforth and Donlands avenues around 1 a.m. and demanded money from the toll collector. One of the them was armed.
It's not clear how much money may have been stolen, While the collector was not injured, transit union chief Bob Kinnear said it was "very traumatic."
Though there is no suggestion the incidents are connected, it is the most recent in a string of subway station hold-ups in the last few weeks.
Castle Frank subway station was robbed at gunpoint earlier this month and over the weekend, both Chester and Rosedale stations were robbed at gunpoint by a man matching a similar description.
Kinnear told CBC News the transit union has been working with the TTC to improve safety at stations, particularly late at night.
"We have had discussions with the TTC in relation to the robberies in the last week and a half or so and we have found ways in which we believe we can improve the safety, that we can improve visibility," he said, adding that last night's incident "will lead to us expediting some of those ideas."
Kinnear was unwilling to elaborate on the details of the proposed increased safety measures, but said the union and TTC will do "everything we possibly can" to ensure that collectors and passengers remain safe.
A short time after the incident at Donlands station, a convenience store at the corner of O'Connor Drive and Sunrise Avenue was robbed by two men, one carrying a handgun, police said.
The thieves allegedly locked a worker in a room while they rifled through the cash register before fleeing.
