Posted on 06/12/2007 2:59:46 AM PDT by Clive
It was an afternoon of terror in an upscale Thornhill neighbourhood yesterday as a gunman fleeing a jewelry store heist opened fire on a cop in a schoolyard and then led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle with two hostages.
York police say the drama began around 1 p.m. after they received a 911 call for an armed robbery at a jewellers in the Promenade Mall at Bathurst and Centre Sts.
When officers arrived they spotted the gunman fleeing across to the east side of Bathurst with security guards on his heels and they joined in the chase on foot, Const. Laurie Perks said last night.
The pursuit continued into a park behind Leo Baeck Day School, a private elementary school for about 530 Jewish students, and that's when the situation became extremely dangerous.
"During the foot pursuit, the suspect turned and fired a weapon at the officers and one officer returned fire," Perks said.
Nobody was hurt in the melee but terrified kids, who were outside for gym class, ran for their lives into the school when the gunfire erupted.
Sierra Plachi, 10, was among the 20 or so kids playing soccer when the gunman and police exchanged gunfire nearby. She was still visibly shaken when she was finally able to run out to her mother's awaiting arms later in the day.
The girl said the man was a few metres away and he appeared to point the silver gun he was carrying at her gym teacher, whom she knows only as Sharitz.
Sierra said the teacher positioned himself between the armed man and his students and yelled at the kids to "run, run, run" inside the school.
"We're all so proud of him and how brave he was, that he would put our lives ahead of his," Sierra said, bursting into tears as she became overwhelmed by her emotions.
Her mother, Robin, like many parents, only found out about the incident after arriving at the end of the day.
"It's just horrible, I can't believe it," Robin said, still somewhat frantic. " You just don't expect something like this to happen when you pay $10,000 a year for your child to go to a school."
After exchanging gunfire with police, the gunman then ran into the garage of a home on nearby Rodeo Dr. and carjacked a minivan with two females in it, Perks said.
Police chased the Toyota Sienna, with help from their chopper, into Vaughan where the driver crashed at Keele St. and Hwy. 7., she said.
A 30-year-old Toronto man was taken into custody and charges are pending, Perks said. His name was not immediately released.
Perks said the hostages were traumatized but unhurt.
The whole incident started when an armed man entered The Jewellery Company on the second floor of the mall and demanded valuables.
Unarmed security staff did speak with the man but he showed his gun and told them to get away.
There are several other jewelry stores in the mall and one proprietor said heists are relatively rare but a fact of life when selling expensive items.
"There are security procedures in place and you can alert police very quickly," the woman said.
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What a sad way to make a living.
Doesnt Canada have strict gun control laws? How could this bad guy get a gun in such a country?????? So he had a gun and the good guys didnt? Amazing how that gun control works.
Perhaps a gun free school zone would have helped.
Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
The cop who returned fire might be in serious doo doo if it was anywhere near those kids.
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