A 23-year-old man was taken into custody Wednesday morning at 10 am after claiming to possess a gun in Robarts library. The university declined to comment on whether security would be increased or not in light of the incident.
A university representative said that “regular patrols occur in various buildings across campus as the safety of our employees and students is paramount.” The representative added that since police responded to the incident so quickly, it wasn’t deemed a crisis and could be handled quietly.
Concerned students and staff called campus police and Toronto Police Services to the scene. The unidentified man was arrested outside the library at 130 St. George St. No gun was found on his person at the time of the arrest.
Police said eyewitnesses described the man as “yelling and screaming.” He has been charged on several counts including threatening bodily harm, although university spokesperson Laurie Stephens said Friday that no students were “directly threatened.” He appeared in court Thursday morning.
The incident occurred on the fourth floor of the library. It was not clear how he managed to bypass the security checkpoint on the first floor, where students are required to show their T-Cards to gain admittance to higher floors. The suspect is not a student at the university.
The incident took place as students crammed into libraries on campus in preparation for exams and finals.
The university addresses situations like a possible shooter in accordance with the Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Management Plan, a protocol for assessing incidents of varying degrees of severity.
