Toronto Police have charged a man with 13 offences after a firearm was spotted at a pro-marijuana rally at Yonge-Dundas Square.

The suspect was apprehended by police shortly after 4 p.m on Tuesday. Authorities confirmed late Tuesday it was in fact a real gun but said the firearm was not loaded.

There were some reports of minor injuries when people began running from the scene.

CTV Toronto reporter Chris Eby, who was at the rally when the disturbance broke out, said things became frantic when a member of one group of young men off to the side of the rally brandished what appeared to be a handgun.

People stood around the possible firearm as others knocked down the man who had brandished the weapon and made a citizen's arrest.

Some at the rally heckled the suspect as he was taken away, Eby said.

Donovan Wynne, a 33-year-old Toronto resident, faces 13 criminal charges, including:

  • Unauthorized possession of a firearm
  • Pointing a firearm
  • Carrying a concealed weapon
  • Threatening death

Vella couldn't say if any other arrests were made at the rally, in which participants called for the legalization of marijuana and smoked the substance openly. The rally lasted from 2 p.m. to 4:20 p.m.

In Ottawa, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said that it would be up to local police to decide whether or not anyone would be charged with pot possession on "4/20" -- the "high holiday" of the marijuana legalization movement.

Nicholson said the government wants to go after those trafficking in illegal drugs, not individual users.

With a report from CTV Toronto's Chris Eby and files from The Canadian Press