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Police would not say what led them to arrest the man, but witness Linus Smith, whose family runs a restaurant across the street, said she saw a man with dark hair walking away from the library at the time of the shooting, wearing a blue coat and holding “something” in his hand. He got into a U-Haul van and drove away.

Ms. Smith said the man was being chased by an older man on a cellphone, whom she recognized as a neighbourhood regular. The man, who walked with a limp, wrote down the licence plate of the U-Haul, she said.

Shortly after, patrons and staff started pouring out of the library, many in tears.

“One of the librarians came out of the library and she hugged her daughter,” she said. “There were other people on the phone, so I realized something was happening.”

Several neighbours and store owners in the area said people reported that the suspect had also used pepper spray.“People were walking out with their eyes kind of shut over their hands,” said neighbour James Jada.

Leo Liu, who runs a café next door, said police were entering the library wearing masks.

Lisa Cameron was on her way home from work on the streetcar when she said she overheard a cellphone conversation between a woman and her mother, a library patron, describing the attack.

“She said she was sitting next to the guy and a person came up behind him and she heard a pop. It didn’t sound like a gun. The guy had a can of pop in his hand and she saw blood coming out of his mouth,” she said.

Ms. Smith said the neighbourhood is usually a safe one, and full of young children.

“There’s lots of kids around here,” she said. “It’s ridiculous to see something happen like that. … There were moms in the library with their babies.”

The library was so full at the time that police had to bring witnesses to several different police stations just to accommodate all of them, said Constable Tony Vella. The library posted a note on its website that it was closed indefinitely.

National Post