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BRAMPTON — One of Canada’s busiest court houses erupted in pandemonium Friday morning as a man armed with a gun shot a police officer at the security screening area and forced his way to nearby elevators before police shot the man dead.

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The wounded officer, Const. Mike Klarenbeek, a 29-year veteran of the force, was rushed to Sunnybrook hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

Hamza Khan, a defendant on the way to his trial, had just boarded the elevator when shots rang out behind him.

“The [shooter] was just two or three guys behind me in the line to clear security,” said Mr. Khan, still shaking two hours later.

“It was just a normal day at court. And then, ‘Boom, boom, boom.’ You don’t know what to do, duck or what.

“People were running. They were pushing. It was crazy. The clerk was crying. Undercover detectives were on the floor.”

Friday, “drug court day,” in one lawyer’s words, is this court’s busiest weekday. In the morning a long line of people snaked through the entrance hall, waiting to clear security. Lawyers and court staff show passes and enter by an adjacent door.