Man fatally shot by police at Toronto Pearson airport following ‘dispute’ outside Terminal 1

The Special Investigations Unit says Peel police officers were called to the airport’s Terminal 1 departures drop-off area after reports of a man in distress in an SUV. The man reportedly produced a firearm, the SIU added. 

Two officers fired their guns at the man and he was pronounced dead on scene, police said. There are no threats to public safety, they added.

The officers weren’t injured, the SIU said. Information provided by the SIU initially indicated that three officers had discharged their firearms at the man, who they said was transported to hospital.

Peel Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah told reporters at the scene Thursday that this was not an attack on the airport itself, one of the busiest hubs in North America.

A member of the public called police for help resolving a dispute among a “group of individuals” in the departures drop-off area. The 911 call came from someone involved in the group that was having the dispute, the chief said. 

The group was at the airport for “the purposes of travelling,” police said Thursday. 

Three officers responded to the call and used an “immense amount of de-escalation” to try to resolve the dispute, the chief said.

“Abruptly, one of individuals produced a firearm,” and pointed it at the officers, the chief added. The SIU said a firearm was “shown to officers” and that they can’t say at this point in the investigation whether the man pointed the firearm at officers. 

“As a result of that, to protect themselves and the community and the passengers here at the airport, two of the officers” shot the man, Duraiappah said.

Despite efforts by the officer as well as paramedics to provide life-saving aid, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man shot by police was “possibly a little bit erratic” and “in mental distress,” SIU spokesperson Kristy Denette told reporters, noting that “some family members also present” at the time of the shooting. 

SIU said officers had a brief conversation with the victim, attempting to deescalate the situation for what “seemed like a few minutes” before drawing their weapons. At least one officer is believed to have been wearing body-worn cameras, they added.

Peel police said earlier Thursday morning that there’s currently a large police presence outside of the Terminal 1 departures drop off area. 

Caution tape surrounded a parked grey Jeep Cherokee — its trunk left ajar — near a cluster of police vehicles. Officers moved through the area, which was scattered with white Starbucks cups seemingly used as evidence markers and discarded belongings.

A body was visible near the Jeep, lying on the pavement under a yellow tarp. 

A small bicycle and what appears to be a child’s bike helmet can be seen in the Jeep’s open trunk. On the ground beside the trunk, a child’s booster seat was left discarded.

People should expect delays at the terminal, Peel police added. 

At the scene, police vehicles were stationed on both sides of the ramp to the Terminal 1 departures drop-off area, blocking every entry point. Outside the terminal, dozens of additional police vehicles lined the streets, while yellow caution tape sealing off several sliding doors leading to the street. 

An empty school bus is parked at the end of the street, with officer crowding in front and yellow caution tape to its side.

In videos shared to social media, seemingly in the moments after the shooting, one of the overpasses at the terminal can be seen congested with travellers’ cars, blocked by police from getting any closer to the scene. By the doors of Terminal 1, dozens of emergency vehicles were stationed, lights blaring. In another video, bystanders can be heard screaming in the background as officers exit their vehicles.

The SIU has assigned six investigators and three forensic investigators to the case. The police watchdog agency investigates all cases of civilian injury or death involving police.

Ontario Provincial Police reported a road closure at Highway 409 to Terminal 1 Departures at the airport due to “a police investigation.” They are advising people to avoid the area.

The airport said on X Thursday morning that the police investigation outside the Terminal 1 departures area would be causing a shift in traffic. Flights continue to operate as normally, spokesperson Sean Davidson told the Star.

“Passengers and vehicles are being rerouted to enter and exit through T1 arrivals. We will provide updates throughout the morning,” they said.

The shooting happened at one of the peak times for domestic travellers in Terminal 1, which is generally considered the busiest terminal at Pearson. In total, the airport typically handles up to 130,000 passengers daily.

Toronto resident Chris Rhind, 35, said he was at the airport with his five-year-old son when the gunshots rang out.

The father-son duo were heading on a trip to visit family in Vancouver and Whistler. It was a “peaceful start” to the morning, he said in a text exchange with the Star, describing how they took an Uber to the airport as they’ve done before.

When they pulled up to one of the first doors in Terminal 1 departures, there was a typical amount of traffic and security, Rhind said. The driver parked in the domestic area, they stepped out and began to collect their bags.

Just as they were grabbing them, he said he heard what sounded like between eight and 12 gunshots ring out.

“We weren’t sure if it was gunfire, construction, aviation equipment or something else,” he said.

The noise came from about 200 metres away. Rhind said he couldn’t see anything abnormal from that distance but noticed a “light smell of gunpowder” in the air.

“My son asked if it was fireworks going off.”

A security guard they passed on the crosswalk moments later asked what the noise was before moving other passengers inside the terminal. Through the glass, Rhind said he saw several police cruisers and an ambulance speeding to the scene.

Concerned with his son’s safety, he didn’t think to take videos or photos. He wanted to get his child to a secure location.

After that, Rhind said, it was as if everything returned to normal. When they dropped off their luggage, his son asked an Air Canada agent what happened. She didn’t have a clue, nor did anyone at security. The pair grabbed a snack, boarded their flight to Vancouver and took off at 8 a.m.

“Thankfully my son is in good spirits,” Rhind said in a message from the plane. He only learned the noises they heard were in fact gunshots until about two and a half hours later, from a post on X from Peel police.

“It was just random luck that we got out of our car where we did; if we had exited 200 metres further into the terminal, we would’ve been in the middle of the shooting and at risk of a stray bullet.”

Rhind sad the impact of what happened hasn’t fully set in — “that we were witnesses to an active shooter event at our country’s largest airport and someone was killed” — and that he was very thankfully for the first responders who rushed to the scene.

Kim Jonathan says she was getting out of an Uber with her family at Terminal 1 for an Air Canada flight when she heard “many shots” nearby, immediately followed by quiet.

Once inside the terminal, it was business as usual — “very calm inside, like any other early morning,” Jonathan said in a message.

“By the time we checked our luggage, there were many emergency vehicles on both sides of the ramps coming up to departures,” she wrote.

Jonathan said she is “very shaken” knowing how close the shooting was.

“My paramount feeling is gratitude for the safety of my family,” she wrote. “I’ll be taking a day to hug the family upon my return home.”

John Fowler was being dropped off around 7 a.m. when he saw officers with their rifles drawn, he said by email. He waited in his car for about a half-hour before police let him walk into the terminal.

Kevin McLaughlin was arriving by the UP Express at Pearson around 7:30 a.m. when he saw “lots of cops” and traffic stopped outside Terminal 1.

“When we rolled in, it was just weird,” McLaughlin said. “There was a lot of flashing lights … There was something going on.”

Inside the terminal, McLaughlin said everything is largely normal, outside of a bit of a buzz from the incident.

This is a developing story.