Gunman kills 2, wounds 13 others in Toronto before being found dead

A black-clad gunman opened fire in a busy neighborhood of Toronto on Sunday night, killing at least two people and wounding 13 others before he was found dead following an “exchange of gunfire” with police, authorities said.

An 18 year-old woman and a 10 year-old girl were killed, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders told reporters Monday, and victims range in age from 10 to 59 years old. The department is not yet releasing details on the two people killed, he said.

The motive for the shootings was not immediately clear, and the identity of the suspected gunman has not been made public. The department has not ruled any motivation out, including terrorism, Saunders said.

Video posted on the Internet reportedly show the gunman walking down a street with a pistol in hand. He turns and fires at least three shots toward a business. Other video recorded sounds of gunshots echoing off the buildings in an area of restaurants and shops known as Greektown.

It was not immediately clear if the gunman was shot dead by police or if he killed himself. He fled after exchanging fire with police, authorities said.

Saunders declined to discuss that portion of the investigation, telling reporters that Ottawa’s Special Investigations Unit is mandated to probe officer-involved incidents.

Five patients arrived at St. Michael’s Hospital in serious condition, three of whom needed immediate life-saving surgery, acting medical director Najma Ahmed told reporters Monday. All five are still being treated, she said.

Witnesses reported he fired into several restaurants or storefronts in span of about 400 meters along Danforth Avenue, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The gunfire erupted around 10 p.m. Sunday near Danforth and Logan avenues east of downtown in the Danforth neighborhood, police said. Saunders described the stretch of roadway as “one of the busiest streets in the country.”

Toronto Mayor John Tory called the shooting a “despicable act” targeting innocents.

“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,” Tory tweeted.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his condolences Monday.

“The people of Toronto are strong, resilient and brave — and we’ll be there to support you through this difficult time,” he wrote on Twitter, in both English and French.

Mes pensées accompagnent les personnes touchées par la tragédie qui a eu lieu la nuit dernière sur l’avenue Danforth. Je souhaite un prompt rétablissement aux personnes blessées. Les Torontois sont forts, résilients et courageux, et nous les appuierons en cette période difficile.

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 23, 2018

Ontario lawmakers took to social media en masse to comment on the shooting rampage.

Jill Andrew, who represents Toronto in the provincial parliament, thanked first responders, along with trauma specialists who will be tasked with helping grieving families cope with the killings.

Video reportedly taken at the scene captured the sound of gunfire as pedestrians ducked into nearby buildings.

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

— n💫 (@nsxoxoii) July 23, 2018

The attack shattered an otherwise peaceful night in Greektown, a name stemming from the inhabitants who filled the neighborhood following World War II.

A mix of restaurants, the area is the scene of the popular Taste of the Danforth festival, a yearly three-day food and entertainment event in August that pulls in more than 1.5 million visitors, according to its website. The cultural melting pot featured at the festival — which includes Chinese, South Asian, Egyptian, Greek, Japanese and Azerbaijani dancing — reflects the eclectic blend of the neighborhood.

“For non-Toronto folk: Danforth/Pape is one of those lively, bustling residential areas with tons of families out on summer nights,” columnist Robyn Urback wrote on Twitter after the shooting, referring to Pape Avenue, another street in the area. “This is horrific.”

Andrew Van Eek, who lives near the shooting, told the CBC. that he stuck his head out of his window after the gunfire started.

“There was a lot of commotion in the street,” he told the CBC. “I saw somebody come just down the sidewalk and shoot into Demetres restaurant.”

Van Eek told the network that the suspect was a white man, dressed in black, who appeared to be in his early 30s.

Another witness told CTV that he estimated the gunman fired about 20 shots.

“And then, I saw the carnage as I ran down the street here to kind of follow the gunfire,” he told the station. “I saw at least four people shot.”

Jody Steinhauer was strolling into a restaurant on Sunday night with her partner, two sets of grandparents and her children. It was her birthday celebration, she told Radio New Zealand. But when the party was entering the establishment, they suddenly heard cracks like firecrackers. Restaurant staff ordered everyone to the back of the room. Get down, they said.

“All you could hear was screaming,” Steinhauer recalled. “There was a woman coming in off the street yelling, ‘Help me! Help me!’ She had been shot in the leg.”

The woman was taken into the back of the room and stabilized on a bench. “Thank goodness there was a doctor in the restaurant,” Steinhauer said.

Steinhauer ducked into a corner and began firing off tweets about what was happening. “We couldn’t even get through to the emergency 911 numbers because the circuits were so jammed,” she said. “I was able to tweet out to reporters to let them know what was going on.”

The gunman was killed four doors down from where Steinhauer and her family were hiding, she said.

“It’s just terrifying,” she said. “Toronto is a very safe city, with a lot of people from a lot of cultures. But who knows what really happened. Time will tell.”

It has been a violent year for Toronto. In April, 25-year-old Alek Minassian allegedly mowed down pedestrians in a shopping district with a van, leaving 10 dead and dozens injured. Minassian is facing 10 counts of first-degree murder.

But the latest deadly shooting also comes as Toronto has witnessed an increase in gun violence over the recent summer months. Eleven people were shot in a span of seven days at the end of June, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. As of July 16, the city has seen 220 shootings in 2018, police department statistics show. Gun-related fatalities this year are up 50 percent from 2017, according to the BBC.

The violent spike has sparked considerable public outcry. In response to the pressure, the city launched a $15 million “gun violence reduction plan” last week. The proposal has put an additional 200 police officers on Toronto streets in targeted areas between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. for the remainder of the summer.

In his brief comments Monday morning, Tory, the Toronto mayor, reiterated that the Danforth shooting was “evidence of a gun problem” in the city.

“Guns are too readily available to too many people,” Tory said.

Brian Murphy contributed to this report.

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