Toronto police said people should go about their day as normal Thursday after officers were sent out in force to the downtown core in response to an undisclosed “potential risk to public safety.” After a cryptic early morning tweet Thursday reporting that Toronto police were responding to an “unconfirmed, uncorroborated piece of information,” uniform officers descended on the area around the CN Tower. An internal police memo obtained by the Star and other media Thursday afternoon described the threat as a “potential vehicle ramming attack” in the area of the tower. The memo said that on Wednesday, police received “credible” information regarding this potential threat, and outlined a plan for increased police presence in the area, including road closures, “vigilant patrol” and followup on any “suspicious behaviour.”In a tweet from the official Toronto police Twitter account, the service said the memo was a “draft operational plan that was never approved.”“Our officers were provided with most up to date/accurate info this morning, as was public. Our current policing response in the downtown core is appropriate based on the info we have. We will update public as necessary,” Toronto police said in the tweet.Asked if the description of the potential threat as “vehicle ramming attack” in the memo was inaccurate, a Toronto police spokesperson said the service would not be releasing any specific details about the information they received.A police source told the Star that some officers were notified Wednesday that their shifts would be increased to 12 hours on Thursday, to enable patrol in the area around the Rogers Centre and the CN Tower. In a press conference Thursday morning, Insp. Michael Barksy wouldn’t elaborate on what information led police to deploy more officers downtown, while emphasizing that Torontonians should go about their day as normal. &# ...
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