Police fatally shoot man at Toronto’s international airport

Police shot and killed an armed 30-year-old man at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Thursday morning, police said.

Two officers shot at the man around 07:00 local time (12:00 GMT), Ontario police’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), said in a statement.

No police officers were injured, and “there is no known threat to the public”, according to the SIU, which is tasked with investigating incidents involving police shootings.

Authorities say that the shooting happened after they were called to a “dispute”. After several minutes of de-escalation attempts, the man pulled out a gun and police opened fire.

On Thursday morning, Peel Regional Police officers were investigating a “man in distress” in an SUV at Terminal 1 departures, the SIU said.

Authorities said the incident happened near Terminal 1 departures.

Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said officers spent about 10 minutes speaking to the group, which included two or three people who were in a dispute.

After “an immense amount of de-escalation”, one of the individuals “abruptly” withdrew a gun, the chief said. Officers opened fire on the man.

The man – who police have not named – was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The incident temporarily sparked travel chaos at Canada’s busiest airport.

Police confirmed there were temporary road closures around the terminal, but airport authorities told the BBC that flights “continue to operate normally”.

Ontario Provincial Police advised drivers and commuters to “avoid the area”. Buses to the airport initially were rerouted, but Toronto’s public transit authority has confirmed that normal service has resumed.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford condemned the shooting.

“What’s the world coming to? You go to the airport and there’s shootings happening,” he said, according to CBC News.

Pearson airport is 20km (12 miles) away from Toronto in the city of Mississauga. It is the country’s busiest airport and sees more than 40 million passengers each year.

This not the first time it has made headlines this year.

In February, a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis overturned at Pearson and caught fire after skidding along the runway. All 80 passengers survived.

By BBC News