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When gunshots rang out during Monday’s celebration for the NBA champion Toronto Raptors, Steve Kern was among those who ran toward them.

Kern is a volunteer with St. John Ambulance and a sergeant-major with the Canadian Armed Forces’ 39 Signal Regiment in Vancouver. He has worked in law enforcement for 35 years. He was also among the first on the scene in Toronto when four people were shot and in need of help.

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Kern, who was on vacation at the time, had gone down to watch the parade and was standing across the street from Nathan Phillips Square around 3:30 p.m.

“The crowds were very big. Lots of people,” he recalled Tuesday.

Kern figured the shots had come from a handgun, rather than a shotgun or rifle, and he determined they had originated from across the street.

Around him, people were seeking cover. Ahead of him, many in the huge crowd turned heel and started to run, pushing and shoving to get away from the area.