One person was killed and 14 others injured in a mass shooting in Toronto, Canada after a gunman opened fire in Greektown district. Local media reports suggest that the shooting took place outside a restaurant. Police said that one young girl was in critical condition. According to reports, the gunman shot himself and died soon after the incident. Police also appealed to eyewitnesses to provide any information about the shooting.
A tweet posted by Toronto police said, "14 victims were shot with a handgun. 1 female adult has died. 1 young girl in critical condition. Suspect is dead (not included in 14 victim total)". The injured were taken to hospitals nearby where they are currently being treated. Witnesses heard over 20 gunshots and the sound of a weapon being reloaded several times, reported news agency AFP quoting local media.
At a press briefing confirming the shooting police said, "There was an exchange of gunfire. The motivation behind the shooting is yet to be investigated." Toronto Police Homicide are lead investigators in Danforth Av shooting, police added.
At Danforth Av Logan Av Toronto Police responded to a call at 10pm Sunday July 22/2018. 9 people shot. Shooter is dead. Further updates will follow on @TorontoPolice twitter #GO1341286 ^sm
— Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) July 23, 2018
Several gunshots were heard in a video of the scene posted on Twitter.
My evening was nice until I heard shooting right out of my place on the danforth. So scary!! The gun violence in Toronto is crazy. pic.twitter.com/eNHLlUlp6r
— nsaidxo (@nsxoxoii) July 23, 2018
"We are looking at all possible motives... and not closing any doors," police told reporters at the site of the shooting.
Officers, some armed with rifles, sealed off Greektown's main street, known as the Danforth, after getting the call around 10:00 pm (0200 GMT Monday).
People leave an area taped off by the police near the scene of a mass shooting in Toronto, Canada
Ontario Premier Doug Ford tweeted condemning the attack. "My heart goes out to the victims and loved ones of the horrific act of gun violence in Toronto. Thank you to all the first responders for acting quickly to help everyone affected," he said.
Toronto had recently deployed close to 200 police officers in response to the recent spate in shootings as part of their "gun violence reduction plan". The move helped police get to the scene on time and respond to the incident at the earliest, police said at the press briefing.
Toronto is grappling with a sharp rise in gun violence this year. Deaths from gun violence in the city jumped 53 percent to 26 so far in 2018 from the same period last year, police data last week showed, with the number of shootings rising 13 percent.
The Greektown shooting comes about three months after the city was shaken by the deaths of 10 people, most of them women, killed by a man with an apparent grudge against women who drove into them on a busy street in Toronto's north end.
