[URBAN NOTE] A shooting at Dupont station

[rfmcdonald]

Below is the scene at Dupont subway station almost exactly 24 hours after an attempted robbery that saw a TTC employee shot last night. All looked well; the news bulletins had mentioned that the morning commute today wouldn't be interfered with.

TTC officials are considering beefing up security for transit workers, as police issued pictures Monday of a masked man in connection with the shooting of a fare collector.

“We will continue to review our security arrangements to make sure we provide as safe as possible working arrangements for our customers and staff,” TTC chief operating officer Andy Byford said Monday.

William Anderson, 52, is recovering after being shot in the upper chest and neck by a handgun-wielding bandit during an attempted robbery at Dupont subway station Sunday evening.

[. . .]

Byford said replacing the glass on collectors’ booths, which is shatterproof but not bulletproof, is worth looking into.

Staff Insp. Mike Earl, of the Toronto police holdup squad, said at a news conference Monday that the suspect in the shooting is male, white, heavily built and between 30 and 55 years old.

The same man is believed to have committed two robberies in the past year, both taking place in the evening on a weekend at Dupont station. Both times he was armed with a revolver, demanded cash and threatened to shoot, said Earl.

For the first two robberies, the TTC ticket collector handed over the cash and no one was hurt, said Earl.

Anderson did not give up the cash and the suspect fired three shots, said Earl.

The gunman fled north on foot. Despite being seen and pursued by civilians he remains at large.

[. . .]

Anderson, known to co-workers as “Tom,” has been working at the TTC since 2003. He was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital, where he is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing surgery.

The whole thing is particularly disturbing to me not least because this crime occurred on my street, and Dupont is a station I regularly pass through. Toronto's a large city but it has only so many shared public spaces.