On November 18, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) received a call at around 11:40 am about a person with a gun near Willcocks Street and Hoskin Avenue.
In an email to The Varsity, TPS Media Relations Officer Ashley Visser stated that officers arrived on the scene where they located, arrested, and investigated two individuals, both of whom were students.
Upon investigation, TPS determined that there was no risk to public safety. Visser explained, “It was determined that the gun was an air-soft gun and the two people were released with no charges.”
U of T students noticed the arrests and posted on Reddit about someone being detained during a lecture at Convocation Hall and outside of Morrison Hall. The post has since been deleted.
A first-year social sciences student at Convocation Hall during the arrest wrote in an email to The Varsity sharing details of the event. The student requested anonymity due to safety concerns.
They wrote that between 12:30 pm and 12:45 pm, two TPS officers entered Convocation Hall during a POL101 — The Real World of Politics: An Introduction lecture. The student claimed that the officers briefly spoke with the professor before calling out a name. The individual stood up and was promptly escorted out of the lecture. The lecture continued afterward without further discussion of the incident.
The Varsity was unable to confirm the alleged arrest outside Morrison Hall.
The Varsity did not hear back from the university administration in time for publication.
