THE RAINBOW MOTEL was a scene of the most horrific shootout with Toronto Police 30-years ago. More than 400 shots were fired in a seven-hour seige. Courtesy photo.
This 1991 gunplay will remain one of the worst shootouts in the 187-year history of Toronto Police.
It will be 30-years next month when 413 shots were fired in a seven-hour shootout between two gunmen and officers at the then notorious Rainbow Motel, one of 18 then-thriving establishments in the so-called Motel Strip area, near Lake shore Blvd. W., and Park Lawn Rd.
Luckily, no one was killed in the standoff which saw volleys of shots being exchanged between the gunmen, who were held up inside the motel and officers outside.
The early-morning incident began when officers saw an expensive Porsche, with B.C. plates, parked in front of the Rainbow. Officers routinely patrolled the Motel Strip to curb prostitution, robberies and other street crimes.
Now retired Toronto Police Sgt. Jack West, who worked out of 22 Division, Traffic Office, Fraud Squad, the Youth Bureau, Two Traffic, before going to 21 Division (now part of 22 Division) was walking the beat along Lake Shore Blvd. W. that eventful day.
“My job was to walk the Lake Shore Motel Strip area,” West recalled before he retired. “There were 18 motels there, which were my responsibility. That was an interesting part of my career because there were disputes, drugs, prostitution and removing hold-up men from rooms.”
That morning Wests’ men noticed the Porsche in the parking lot, which piqued their interest.
When the officers went to talk to the car owner, in the motel room, they were greeted with gunfire.
“The door swung open and there were two individuals shooting at the officers,” recounted the retired West. “They (officers) went for cover and called assistance. I wasn’t that far away. There were 413 bullets fired from that room at the police and the ordeal lasted a day and a half.”
With the help of the heavily-armed Emergency Task Force, the men were arrested and taken into custody.
While searching one of the suspects, they found a key to a motel room that tied the shooters to a double murder in Nanaimo, B.C.
West would get lucky again a few years later when there was another shooting on the Strip.
This time he and his partner were in plainclothes and followed a van that turned into a dark parking lot. The driver took a shot at the officers and bolted into the woods. A woman was found in the van and she had a key to a motel room, where the man was believed to be hiding.
The motel became the scene of another shooting. Inside, police opened fire on a suspect shooting him with a 12-guage shotgun. West then jumped on the suspect to subdue him.
“He was yelling at me,” West recalled. “I discovered that he had a stolen bulletproof vest and was wearing two coats. This experience taught me that you do not judge a book by the cover. I never think he had the capabilities he had.”
He would later be awarded with a Toronto Police Merit Mark Award for helping with the capture of that man, who was involved in a series of armed robberies.
