A 30-year-old man is in custody after a brazen daytime robbery and car chase in Vaughan on Monday.
The armed suspect allegedly held up a jewelry store at the Promenade Mall near Bathurst and Centre Streets at around 1:30 p.m.
Unarmed security guards confronted the man at the jewelry store, but were told to back off or the situation would escalate.
The suspect fled the scene with two bags of loot as security guards and police pursued the man on foot.
Leo Baeck Day School in Thornhill, only a block away from the shopping centre, was locked down at around 1 p.m. after the suspect began firing at police in the schoolyard where some elementary students were having gym class.
"He took a gun out of his pocket and threatened to kill my teacher," one student at the school told CTV News.
"I was lying on the ground, curled up in a ball; I was so nervous," said another student.
The suspect eluded police at the school and ran into a nearby home on Rodeo Drive where he forced two young women into their van.
Police seized a silver handgun from the van after they apprehended the suspect on Keele Street just south of Highway 7 in the afternoon.
There were no injuries reported, however, the two women in the van were taken to hospital to be examined.
Police will announce more details on Tuesday during a press conference.
With a report from CTV's Austin Delaney
