WARMINGTON: Toronto Police cruiser swarmed by 'bystanders' following shooting

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In an increasingly dangerous city, this time it was the Toronto Police who were swarmed.

You read it right.

It all happened Tuesday on Grandravine Dr. up in 31 Division after a shooting.

“From an SUV, shots were fired toward a crowd and there was return fire,” said Insp. Lisa Crooker.

That part of the story we have become accustomed to in Toronto. There are many shootings every week now.

The next part is something new. After police investigated, they brought a suspect into custody when all hell broke loose.

“The bystanders swarmed,” said Crooker. “They tried to get into the back of the car with the suspect.”

The scene saw friends of the person arrested diving right into the squad car and going through his pockets.

“It’s not something I have ever heard of before,” said Supt. Ron Taverner, who heads the division.

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He’s been on the job for 52 years.

In her almost quarter-century of police work, Crooker hadn’t seen it either.

But she is proud of her officers who kept their cool and managed to get the situation under control. No one was hurt.

“They stayed calm and were professional,” she said.

It’s unclear if the swarming attempt was about trying to remove potential evidence, stop the arrest, or act as a diversion to the exercising of warrants that were about to go down. What is clear is this is a very scary, outrageous set up circumstances that could have worked out way worse.

It’s also something that can’t be tolerated, Taverner said.

This whole abolish or defund the police agenda is not helpful. It’s creating problems for police doing their jobs.

“It’s outrageous,” added Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack. “This is what happens when there is a constant demonization and villainization of police. The respect for officers doing their job is important and this is an example of why people have to stop blaming the police for every ill in society.”

Six people have been charged with firearms offences including Wayne Cato, 27, Jerome Walcott, 27, Omar Simpson, 29, Sabrina Herdsman, 22,  as well as others under the age of 18. These allegations have not been tested in court and all are innocent until proven guilty. No charges have been laid at this point for those allegedly obstructing police.

But McCormack said his officers are mindful of the risks they now face in this highly charged time.

Crooker added police are just trying to keep the community safe.

jwarmington@postmedia.com