Eaton Centre shooting: Panic, bloodshed seen in video footage

Surveillance video presented in court shows the panic and bloodshed of the 2012 Eaton Centre shootings, when Christopher Husbands opened fire in the food court of Toronto's biggest downtown mall. 

Footage from multiple security cameras, collected by Det.-Sgt. Tam Bui of Toronto Police Service, was presented to the jury on Wednesday. It includes video of Husbands and his girlfriend, Lachelle John, in and around the food court, before the June 2, 2012, shootings. 

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While Husbands and John are in line, a group of five men in dark clothing — including victims Nixon Nirmalendran and Ahmed Hassan — take the escalator down to the food court, Bui said. 

Within seconds of stepping off the escalator, Bui told the court that Husbands and the group of men appear to recognize each other. Husbands pulls out a gun and starts firing. 

Shoppers flee as panic erupts. Hassan is seen walking, then collapsing, after being shot. He died at the scene.

The view from another camera shows a security guard attending to Nirmalendran as he lies on the blood-stained floor. He died days later in hospital. 

Husbands has admitted responsibility for the shooting, but has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, claiming he did not go to the mall intending to kill anyone.