Amid the thunderous chants of “We the North” and spontaneous renditions of “O Canada,” there were a few isolated incidents of unruly behaviour during the mostly peaceful Toronto Raptors celebrations.
Revellers chanted in unison, danced, and climbed street lamps, sign posts, and what seemed like everything else in order to soak in the jubilant mood after the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors to clinch the NBA championship on Thursday night.
While most fans partied responsibly, a few overzealous partiers became destructive.
Toronto police said a bus shelter, a few special events buses, and two police cruisers were vandalized.
Supt. Michael Barsky told CP24 that the windshields of two police cars were smashed during the celebrations.
In one video widely shared online, a man in a red sweatshirt can be seen standing on the hood of a police cruiser and kicking the already broken windshield as numerous bystanders stand around and film him on their phones.
At Yonge-Dundas Square, where thousands of people congregated to celebrate together into the wee hours, several TTC special events buses that were parked along the streets to contain the crowds had their windows smashed in and were covered in graffiti. At least one bus shelter was also vandalized in the commotion, Barsky said.
Despite the vandalism, Barsky said there were approximately 50 to 75 people who got “out of hand,” a small proportion of the tens of thousands flooding the streets.
“They are really just property offences,” Barsky said. “Yes, some people got carried away, but when you consider that there was probably in excess of 10,000 people in this square… There was no fights, there was no high tensions and there was no injuries in any way or form.”
It’s still unclear if there were any arrests in connection to the late-night revelry.
One block north of the excitement at Yonge and Dundas streets, a shooting occurred at around 4:15 a.m. on Friday.
Toronto police said one person was rushed to hospital in life-threatening condition. A few hours later, police tweeted that “arrests were made” in connection with the incident.
