A 14-year-old boy was taken to hospital with minor injuries on Monday night after a group of people reportedly shot fireworks at each other at Christie Pits Park.
A video published on Twitter appears to show a group of people repeatedly shooting fireworks at each other in the dark. The person who posted the video online said the footage was shot at the downtown park, located near Bloor Street West and Christie Street, last night.
Paramedics were called to the park at around 9:41 p.m. after they said they received reports about fireworks being shot at bystanders.
A 14-year-old boy was transported from the scene to hospital to be treated for minor injuries, paramedics confirmed.
Toronto police also said they received calls about fireworks in the park but were not told that they were being shot at people. Police said fireworks are regularly set off on Victoria Day and they did not send any officers to respond.
It is not clear if police have seen the video or if they plan to investigate the incident further.
Speaking to CP24 Tuesday, Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said in the past, he has seen people badly injured after misusing fireworks.
“I think people lose sight of the fact that fireworks are explosives. That is what they are and the combustibles and flammable material that is being ejected burns at extremely high temperatures. It’s propelled at very, very rapid speeds,” Pegg said.
“Candidly, it is a recipe for not only physical injury and a disaster from a human perspective, but I have seen more fires caused by people misusing fireworks and doing this fireworks war. I’ve seen a lot of bad happen. (It’s) not a good idea ever.”
