A member of the Toronto Police Service has been suspended with pay after information related to a potential threat downtown was “unofficially shared.”

Frontline police officers from multiple divisions flocked to the city’s downtown core on Thursday morning, after an “unconfirmed and uncorroborated” piece of information heightened concerns about public safety.

A police tweet about the increased police presence sent shockwaves through the city, though officials refused to provide any further details about the nature of the threat.

During the course of the investigation, CTV News Toronto obtained leaked information that had apparently been sent to Toronto police supervisors and officers. Part of the information indicated that the unspecified information that triggered the extra security was related to a threat to tourist attractions in the GTA.

One specific document referred to a “vehicle ramming attack,” but police later called it an “unapproved draft.”

Toronto police spokesperson Meaghan Gray said Tuesday that the service’s professional standards committee has suspended an officer related to the release of information, though unspecified, related to the incident. A second investigation has also been launched into the leaked draft.

“Last Thursday, we became aware of information that was unofficially shared by a member of the Service with our private sector partners. A Professional Standards investigation was started, a member was identified, and that member has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation,” she wrote in an email.

“In addition, the Service was made aware of the unauthorized release of a draft, unapproved operational plan to the media. A separate Professional Standards investigation is being conducted into that matter.”

Gray did not indicate whether a second member had been identified as the person allegedly behind the draft plan making its way to the media.

She said police are taking the leaks “very seriously.”

“Any time we have an incident where we have to balance the interest of letting the public know what’s going on along with protecting the integrity of our investigation, that’s something we’re always keenly aware of when we’re considering that release of information. It’s why we have a corporate communications unit at the Toronto Police Service that works very closely with our investigators,” Grey told CP24 on Tuesday.

“To have unofficial information be released – in the second particular case with the unapproved operational plan – that information was inaccurate and not up-to-date, it just counteracts what we’re trying to do with our transparency as well as with the ongoing investigation.”

Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack said he was aware of the situation and in touch with the officer suspended as part of the first investigation.

He called the information leak a "very serious matter."

"These documents are classified and kept confidential for a reason, so it is concerning when those documents get into the public domain when there could be a potential to jepordize an investigation or public safety," McCormack said.

“I want to make sure we know all the evidence and the details behind what really happened here... We have to judge each of these cases individually. There’s a lot of things going on in the city, a lot of frustrated people right now.”

The more than 12-hour long investigation encompassed several surrounding GTA police jurisdictions and stretched as far as Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughan, where York Regional Police said they were monitoring as part of the case.

Despite the boosted security in the city’s downtown, all businesses in the affected areas remained open including the Rogers Centre, CN Tower Metro Toronto Convention Centre and Ripley’s Aquarium.

Police called off the extra security by about 10:30 p.m. but encouraged residents to continue to report anything that seemed “out of the norm.”