Two people have died and 13 others have been injured after a shooting attack near a restaurant in the Canadian city of Toronto on Sunday evening.
Police confirmed that one of those killed was a woman and the other was the shooter, who died after an exchange of gunfire with police. Among the injured is a young girl in a critical condition.
Paramedics, firefighters and police rushed to the scene at Danforth and Pape Avenues in Toronto’s Greektown neighbourhood, which has many popular restaurants, cafes and shops, around 10pm on Sunday night after reports a shooting had taken place.
All those injured have been taken to local hospitals.
Toronto police chief Mark Saunders said police had not confirmed the shooter’s motive and would not speculate on it until they had more information.
“We are looking at all possible motives … and not closing any doors,” Saunders told reporters at the site of the shooting.
Footage from the scene appears to show a man, believed to be the gunman, walking down a street before pulling out a handgun and firing into a Greektown eatery from the street.
Witness Jody Steinhauer has told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) she was at a restaurant on Danforth Avenue with her family when she heard what sounded like 10 to 15 firecracker blasts.
She said she was told to run to the back of the restaurant.
“We started to hear people scream out front,” Steinhauer said.
John Tory, the mayor of Toronto, called the attack “a despicable act”.
“On behalf of all Toronto residents, I am outraged that someone has unleashed such a terrible attack on our city and people innocently enjoying a Sunday evening,” he wrote on Twitter.
“While our city will always be resilient in the face of such attacks, it does not mean such a cowardly act committed against our residents is any less painful – this is an attack against innocent families and our entire city.”
Tory urged people not to speculate as to the motive of the attack and said he had “total confidence” in the ability of police to determine what happened.
In a press conference shortly after the shooting, John Tory told reporters that the shooting was “evidence of a gun problem” in Toronto. Police confirmed that the shooter used a handgun.
“Guns are too readily available to too many people,” he said.
Toronto is grappling with a sharp rise in gun violence this year. There have been 26 deaths from gun violence in the city so far this year, a 53% increase from the same period last year, with the number of shootings rising 13%, according to plice data.
Last week, Toronto police put roughly 200 additional officers on shift in particular neighbourhoods between the hours of 7pm and 3am – when most shootings occur – as part of a plan to reduce gun crime, the CBC reported.
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario tweeted that his “heart goes out to the victims and loved ones of the horrific act of gun violence in Toronto”.
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Source: The Guardian
