Video Footage Shows Suspects Throwing ‘Molotov Cocktails’ in Southern Ontario Theatre: Police

The crest of the York Regional Police on the headquarters building in Aurora, Ont., on Sept. 15, 2020. Shutterstock

Police in southern Ontario have released video footage of two suspects using what appear to be Molotov cocktails to set a cinema lobby ablaze over the weekend while movie-goers were inside the building.

Officers were called to the Richmond Hill cinema in the area of East Beaver Creek and Highway 7 at approximately 11:10 p.m. on Nov. 3 for reports of a fire in the main lobby, police said in a press release.

Investigators with the York Regional Police are seeking two suspects in connection with the late-night arson at the theatre, police said in the Nov. 5 release. 

The sprinkler system was activated, successfully extinguishing the fire and none of the occupants in the second-floor theatre were injured, police said.  

The video released by police shows two suspects arriving at the cinema in a grey Acura RDX which had been reported stolen in Toronto on Oct. 28.

After exiting the vehicle, the suspects entered the lobby and threw a bag on the ground against a wall lined with movie posters. They then lit what appeared to be Molotov cocktails and tossed them at the bag, causing it to ignite, before fleeing in the grey SUV.

The first suspect is described as having a medium build, wearing black shoes, black pants, a black hooded sweatshirt with a white shirt underneath, black gloves, and a mask, police said.

The second suspect is also described as having a medium build and was wearing white shoes, black pants, a grey hooded sweatshirt, black gloves, and a mask.

The authorities are asking anyone with information about the fire to come forward.

This is not the first time the cinema has been the target of violence. It was targeted in three separate shootings in May that caused property damage. 

Several shots were fired shortly before 10 p.m. on May 17 toward the main entrance doors of the cinema and the same thing occurred just two days later at 9:23 p.m.  There were no injuries in either shooting, police said.

The windows of multiple main entrance doors were shattered by gunfire during a 2:30 a.m. drive-by shooting on May 24. Video surveillance showed a dark-coloured SUV pull up in front of the entrance doors to the cinema and multiple shots being fired from the rear right passenger window before the vehicle fled the scene. 

Police said a different vehicle was used in each shooting.