Police are investigating what they say appears to be a military munition that was found in a residential building in the city’s downtown.
The item, initially reported as a “large metal object,” was found in a parking garage of a building on Beverly Street, near Queen Street East, shortly after 1 p.m.
A CBRNE team (Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) was called to the scene along with Toronto police and fire services.
Toronto police Sgt. Sean Cassidy told CP24 that the item is about 18 inches long and appears to be something that can be used in a “military type of setting.”
Initially, investigators could not determine whether the device was authentic.
Police forwarded photos of the item to experts with the Canadian military who assessed them and determined it to be a “training round” of military munition and likely wasn't live.
“They’re convinced it’s a training round, they’ve seen hundreds of these things. They’ve said if there even is material in there, it’s a very low amount of explosive material,” Staff Sgt. Dan Martin said.
“Training munitions will typically being something the military can use to simulate what it would be like to use a live round.”
Police have closed off the underground parking garage but say the building and its residents are “completely safe.”
A special vehicle, called a containment vessel, has been delivered to the scene to help remove the item.
Marin said the vehicle is too large to bring into the underground garage, so an officer will be tasked with retrieving the item.
“I’m going to have to send an officer in a bomb suit, again out of an abundance of caution, to pick this thing up, move it away in a fragmentation bag to contain any potential danger and then move it into the containment vessel and the military will come and pick it up later,” he said.
Police reiterated that there is no risk to public safety as the area where the device was found is "very isolated."
