Should the father who briefly left his infant son unattended, sparking a province-wide Amber Alert on Sunday afternoon, face a criminal charge?

According to many on Twitter, the answer is a swift and decisive yes.

On Sunday afternoon, a young family had stopped in at a flea market. Dad and his three-month-old son were in the car but Mom was taking too long inside. Dad got out of the car to check on her, intending only to be gone for moments. That was all it took for someone to drive away with the still-running vehicle, with the baby buckled into his car seat.

Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook says the man was standing “a few feet away” from the vehicle when the suspect jumped in and drove off Sunday afternoon.

She says investigators have determined the father had not been negligent towards the child, who was found safe hours later.

Douglas-Cook says it is not automatically a criminal offence to leave a child in a vehicle, and police must look at the circumstances of each case.

Toronto police later said the father would not be charged but the car thief, who is still at large, would be.

Not good enough. Out came the social media pitchforks.

@TPSOperations what kind of parents leave a baby unattended in a car should be the next question — Stever (@stever073) March 20, 2016

@TPSOperations @TorontoPolice Father I hope is charged for leaving 3 mth son in his stolen vehicle. I’ll be watching that charges are laid — Mr. Scott (@Pumajon61Scott) March 20, 2016

@TPSOperations @CityNews why did this stupid ignorant father leave his baby in the car????? — Phong Lu (@vpl555) March 20, 2016

@perfectrose2011 @TPSOperations I’m pissed off with both the thief AND the parents… who the $%^^ leaves a BABY alone in a car??!! — Heather R. (@sweetkeet) March 20, 2016

@TPSOperations Is the father being charged for leaving his baby in an unlocked, running car? #AmberAlert — Ferrari (@FerrariWoods) March 21, 2016

@TPSOperations What kind of person would do this. The parent should be charged for leaving the child unattended — bobbi-jo willmott (@bobbijow) March 21, 2016

Others, including me, were quick to empathize with the parents. I don’t own a car but on occasion, I’ve used one to make the drive from Toronto to Ottawa, to take my not-quite-a-toddler son to visit his grandparents. On more than one occasion, I’ve left him buckled into his car seat when I ran inside to pay for gas.

Yes, I had the keys with me, but my son was unintended, alongside a highway.

It was all I could think about during Sunday’s Amber Alert. Who hasn’t had a split-second accident? Or taken their eyes off their child at exactly the wrong time?

It’s happened to me. It’s happened to every single parent I know. The only difference is, no one was watching when I did it. And everything worked out fine.

Among the comments condemning the actions of the parents, there were others calling for empathy, patience, and an end to the kind of mob justice that is so evident on social media.

Read on for those who felt for the parents:

@TPSOperations hey people, wait to pass judgement on the parents until more details come available. Thank you TPS and other agencies. — STAPES (@stapescanuck) March 20, 2016

@BeautyyQueenxx @CityNews I am so happy for the parents. That must have been a very frightening ordeal. Prayers do get answered. — Sarah Federici (@Sarahspf) March 21, 2016

What could you possibly do to punish them any more than they were today? I'd cut them a mile of slack. https://t.co/5lXH7XR80Y — Steve Ladurantaye (@sladurantaye) March 21, 2016

Can't even imagine what those parents just went through. — Steve Ladurantaye (@sladurantaye) March 20, 2016

What do you think? Was Sunday’s incident just a case of bad luck, or should the child’s father face a charge for leaving him in a running car?