The man accused in connection with a shooting at Yorkdale Mall was caught on one of 600 security cameras that are placed in the interior and exterior of the North York shopping centre, something that the director of the mall said was critical to making an arrest.
Claire Santamaria, the director and general manager of Yorkdale Shopping Centre, told CTV News Toronto that the mall’s security procedures allowed for important information to get to the authorities in a quick and timely manner.
“We have a very advanced security system here. It’s probably one of the best in the country,” she said. “We spent several million of dollars upgrading the system here and do so on an annual basis, and really it was the opportunity for us, again, to put those practices and protocols in place and have the suspect identified within 24 hours, which is what led to the arrest.”
Shortly after 3 p.m. on Aug. 30, shoppers at Yorkdale Shopping Centre fled the area after hearing two gunshots ring out. Police said that the gunfire was the result of an altercation between two groups of men in the southeast corner of the mall, near the security office and a Starbucks.
There were at least three men in each group and they all fled the scene.
A suspect police have identified as Toronto resident Zion Sankar-Beharry, 20, was taken into custody on Sept. 4. He is facing close to a dozen charges, including two counts of attempted murder, two counts of pointing a firearm, possessing a loaded regulated firearm, and carrying a concealed weapon.
Sankar-Beharry appeared in court on Friday for a bail hearing. He was remanded into custody and denied bail.
Santamaria said that Yorkdale Mall’s security system covers almost every corner of the mall and that security staff are able to track any incidents that occur on the property “very easily and very quickly.”
“I think it is that ability to be able to work very efficiently and very quickly that really helps get information into the right hands very quickly,” she said. “It is just us being able to use our cameras as a customer service.”
Santamaria said that she was proud of how staff and tenants “leaped into action” at the time of the shooting.
“While it was very busy, everybody had a role and everyone knew what they were doing,” she said.
Santamaria also said that the shooting is an opportunity for the shopping centre to review their security strategies and protocols.
“We are constantly reviewing our security strategies and protocol, that’s just part of day-to-day operations here,” she said. “So it was an opportunity for us to actually review in detail some of the events of that day but also it was a really refreshing way for us to take a look at some of the actions that our tenants and our staff took again to keep everybody safe.”
More than 18 million people visit Yorkdale Mall every year and Santamaria said that the shopping centre has 270 tenants. The mall has a 24 hour security and regular police presence.
