A downtown Toronto Jewish community centre and school were evacuated and a major intersection closed Tuesday after a threat was phoned in.
The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre (JCC) at the corner of Spadina Ave and Bloor St W says it received a threat in the morning.
Toronto Police tell NEWSTALK 1010 they were contacted at 10:16 a.m., about the same time a fire alarm was pulled at the Downtown Jewish Community School which is inside the JCC. Const. Jen Sidhu could not say who had pulled the alarm or whether the call and alarm were related.
By the time police arrived on scene the school had already been evacuated. Nearby Howlett Academy, a school for kids in grades four to eight was locked down.
The intersection of Bloor and Spadina had already been closed for a planned demonstration unrelated to the JCC. Police kept the roadblock up until the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives unit had a chance to search the property.
The all clear was given just before 12:30 p.m.
"We need to learn to get along," Superintendent Neil Corrigan of Toronto Police told NEWSTALK 1010's sister station CTV at the scene. "These sorts of things, especially when they affect children and elderly people are just unacceptable in this Canadian culture of ours."
South of the border bomb threats against Jewish community centres, schools and Anti-Defamation League offices were reported in at least nine states on Tuesday, including five threats in New York City alone.