St. Pat’s parade bomb scare on Yonge

By Duncan McAllister –

A suspicious package prompted police to close off a section of Yonge St. and divert the tail-end of the St. Patrick’s day parade down Bay St. on March 18. A section of the Yonge St. subway line was shut down as well.

At about 1PM, an employee of the Courtyard Marriott hotel witnessed a man and woman in their thirties leave behind the package. Metro police immediately responded and set up a command post on Alexander and Yonge. Officers went door-to-door to begin evacuating the hotel and the Wendy’s restaurant below.  Several streets were taped off, and pedestrians were ushered into the laneway west of Yonge.

The emergency task force explosive disposal unit arrived on scene and bomb-squad personnel could be seen going in to investigate the package. An all-clear was issued shortly before 2PM.  The contents of the package were not immediately known.