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Ex-TTC vice-chair witnessed scene at Spadina station: 'It was kind of pandemonium'

Mar 29, 2008 04:30 AM
Sarah Boesveld
Staff Reporter

A young woman was shot on a subway train just as it rolled into Spadina station last night, halting subway service and causing pandemonium at the downtown commuter stop.

The woman, who was shot in the leg, was rushed to St. Michael's hospital for treatment.

Rob Davis, former vice-chair of the TTC, witnessed the scene as the train opened its doors at the Spadina platform around 8:45 p.m.

As he was waiting to get on the train, he was met with a rush of young people trying to get off.

"As they pushed through the door, I heard a gunshot on the train itself. People started running. It was kind of pandemonium," he said last night.

The former city councillor ran upstairs in the station, called 911, and then returned to the train, which remained stopped.

"There was a victim, a young teenage girl. I remember she was wearing white jeans. She'd been shot in the upper thigh," he said.

A girl who Davis believes is the victim's best friend applied pressure to the wound, trying to make the bleeding stop.

"I think she was crying out in pain that it hurt so much."

Davis says he only heard one shot and didn't believe there was a gunfight.

Alternate reports say the young woman pulled a knife on the suspect first.

"The one guy who stayed and helped, he seemed to suggest that it was a group of young men sort of squaring off against a group of young girls," Davis said.

Davis calls this situation ironic since he was vice-chair of the TTC from 1998 to 2000. He also helped create the "gun buy-back" program in 2000, an initiative that encourages the safe disposal of guns.

The scene on the subway was one he says he won't soon forget.

"There were a few people crying; it was very bad, it was very stressful and it was quite disgusting," he said, adding that he didn't see an assailant run from the scene.

Police combed the area into the morning to find him.

Service between St. George and St. Clair West stations screeched to a halt as investigators talked to witnesses on the scene. Shuttle buses were called in to get collect passengers.

Spadina station sits on the border dividing three police divisions, which caused initial confusion as to whose crime scene it was. Officers from 14, 52 and 53 divisions all arrived on scene to aid in the investigation.