Police respond to online reaction after ‘sniper’ spotted during St. Patrick’s celebrations in Waterloo, Ont.

Playing null of undefined

Crowds gather for St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Waterloo

Tactical officer with a gun surveys St. Patrick's Day crowd in Waterloo, Ont.

University students spot armed officers at St. Patrick's Day party

Police sniper spotted during St. Patrick’s day celebrations in Waterloo, Ont.

Officials are defending their decision to bring in tactical teams, including what appeared to be a sniper, to monitor the unsanctioned St. Patrick’s Day street party in Waterloo, Ont.

Thousands of post-secondary students take part in the annual tradition, crowding the streets of the city’s university district. The most concerning behaviour from party-goers is usually alcohol or trespass-related. The police response, however, was different this year.

Students were stunned to see an armed officer surveying the crowd with a “sniper” rifle.

Response from Waterloo Regional Police

The Waterloo Regional Police Service confirmed on Monday that images and videos circulating online do, in fact, show one of their officers. Police said it was part of their broader safety plan for the student gathering.

“As with all operational deployments that involve large gatherings with mass casualty considerations, a comprehensive safety plan for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations was developed that included members of our Public Order Unit and Emergency Response Team,” WRPS Const. Melissa Quarrie explained in an email to CTV News.

Other measures were used to manage crowds and maintain safety on the street, such as barriers to prevent vehicles from entering pedestrian areas.

Waterloo Regional Police said the tactical officers were positioned in elevated locations so they could monitor the entire area and identify any “potential safety concerns that may not be visible to officers on the ground.”

“The magnitude of unfortunate mass casualty events that have occurred across North America, and around the world in recent decades, have shaped emergency response strategies for all large gatherings,” explained WRPS Chief Mark Crowell in a statement to CTV News. “In accordance with legislated standards for emergency response and public order deployment, our officers effectively managed a large unsanctioned gathering upholding safety for all involved.”

According to WRPS spokesperson Cherri Greeno, the unsanctioned St. Patrick’s Day street party was not the first time police deployed tactical officers at high vantage points.

“It’s common when there are large gatherings where there are mass casualty considerations,” she said.

A Community Safety Event was declared ahead of the weekend to allow for parking bans and increased bylaw enforcement in Waterloo’s university district.

Reaction from Waterloo’s mayor

Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe told The Canadian Press she was “surprised and shocked” to learn the Waterloo Regional Police Service had deployed their tactical team.

McCabe said she was not informed of any weapon concerns, the possibility of extreme violence or any other safety issues that would require a sniper at the unsanctioned St. Patrick’s Day street party, which has been going on for about 15 years. She also noted that measures were put in place in crack down on the event, which is both disruptive to residents and a strain on police, paramedics and hospitals.

McCabe told The Canadian Press she had requested a meeting with the police chief to find out why a sniper was deemed necessary. According to Waterloo Regional Police, the mayor and chief have spoken.

CTV News asked the mayor for an interview on Monday. She declined, stating that she had received a “significant number of requests” and preferred to provide only a written statement, which is included here in its entirety.

‘That’s just reality’

Chris Lewis, a former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner and public safety analyst for CTV News, said it is not unusual to have tactical officers at large public events.

“To be frank, I didn’t react at all. It’s really commonplace in public order situations,” he said. “Depending on the intelligence received ahead of time, for police to have tactical teams supporting [officers], that’s just reality.”

Lewis also noted large gatherings often involve extensive intelligence gathering, including the monitoring of online activity and working with other policing agencies to identify potential safety risks.

“It may not have been the large crowd. It might have been who was in the crowd. There’s people that may cause violence of some sort, or may be a threat to police officers or others. It’s not unusual at all to have a tactical team in the background, watching from a good viewpoint and being prepared to support the public order officers.”

The presence of a tactical officer with a scoped rifle does not necessarily mean police expect to use it.

“The tactical officer, in that case, just happens to have a rifle with the scope... it’s just a preparatory issue. And worst case scenario, they have the ability to make that judgment call and use force using that particular rifle,” he explained. “But that’s just one piece of the overall tactical team arsenal really... so they were prepared. They’re praying [that there is a] 99.9 per cent chance they would not have to use it.”

Lewis said similar deployments have occurred at past protests and large gatherings in other cities.

“I absolutely stand by what they did. Ultimately, they know the intelligence. I think that, ultimately, police made the decision they made and thankfully, they did not have to use that rifle.”

St. Patrick’s Day 2025

According to WRPS, approximately 20,000 people gathered at the peak of last year’s party on Marshall Street, despite a court injunction that gave officers the power to arrest and criminally charge anyone who was deemed to be a nuisance.

WRPS said they arrested 17 people and laid 254 charges over the course of the 2025 event.

A report from police said the day began with small gatherings on private properties, before things escalated.

“Shortly before 3 p.m., a large crowd was observed descending onto the roadway on Marshall Street in what appeared to be a planned, coordinated takeover of the street,” the WRPS report read. “Enforcement efforts by our members transitioned to crowd management and public safety efforts as officers were forced to close access to multiple streets to oncoming traffic.”

With files from The Canadian Press