WARNING: Some readers might find the language in this article offensive
A screaming woman interrupted a news conference involving two of Ontario’s top politicians at Toronto City Hall and temporarily put the conference room on lockdown.
The incident happened just after 10 a.m. ET on Thursday.
The woman, apparently upset with her housing situation, screamed several profanities from the other side of a door where Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne were giving an update to a meeting the pair had earlier Thursday morning.
Among the yelling, the woman can be heard screaming: “There’s a bullet in my f****** window” repeatedly.
Wynne stood at the podium for several minutes while the woman screamed. John Tory stood next to Wynne the entire time, virtually motionless.
Security temporarily put the room on lockdown with Wynne, Tory and reporters huddled inside.
At one point Wynne, appearing shocked about what was going on says: “Oh dear,” and “Is she alright?” Eventually Wynne had to leave for question period and the news conference was called off.
The woman was not arrested and security members were able to defuse the situation.
Once the situation was under control, Tory returned to the podium without Wynne and talked about security at city hall.
“People can come to my office and the offices of the counsellors and with the problems they have with the city government and I think that’s a good thing about the building,” he said.
“People coming in that are disturbed about something that has happened in their lives – and many times it has nothing to do with city government—but they come here because this is an accessible place,” Tory said.
While city hall is open to the public, a security guard is stationed outside Tory’s office. In November, a Toronto city staff report recommended installing airport-level security in the building.
“I don’t want to start saying we’re going to do a lot of things based on this one incident you’ve heard and seen today,” Tory said. “It happens quite frequently. It’s one of those things where what you hope you can do is solve the problem and calm the person.”
Council in December approved the installation of posts around Nathan Phillips Square to deter a vehicle from climbing the curb and targeting people in the pavilion.
With a report from CTV Toronto
