Three suspects are still at large after 12 people were injured in a shooting at a pub in Toronto, police in the Canadian city say.
A shooting incident occurred at 22:39 on Friday local time (03:39 GMT Saturday) near Scarborough city centre in eastern Toronto.
Authorities said six people suffered bullet wounds, and others were hurt by flying or broken glass. They said the injuries were not life-threatening.
Toronto police said the three men, armed with an assault rifle and handguns, had entered the pub and “opened fire indiscriminately”.
Police Supt Paul MacIntyre said a motive “right now remains unclear, and we’re chasing down all leads”.”
“This was a brazen and reckless act of violence that’s really shaken our community and the city itself,” he added.
Police said they were deploying all available resources to find the suspects.
Earlier, they said that one suspect, wearing a black balaclava, had been seen fleeing the scene in a silver car.
The victims ranged in age from 20 to mid-50s, according to police.
“I’m pleased to announce, thanks to divine intervention, that there have been no deaths,” Supt MacIntyre stated, describing the situation as “extremely fortunate.”
He said he and other officers were “horrified” by video of the shooting.
“These guys just looked at the crowd and opened fire. It was horrible.”
Glass walls were shattered, and there was “blood all over the floor”, including in the basement, where some people ran to hide before police arrived, he said.
Mayor Olivia Chow expressed deep concern over the mass shooting, telling reporters on Saturday that she was “deeply troubled” by the incident.
“The scale of the shooting and the number of individuals injured is deeply concerning,” stated Mayor Chow.
Authorities have been engaged in thoroughly investigating the case, continuing their efforts throughout the night and into the morning.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also condemned the violence, stating in an X post on Saturday that he fully supports the Toronto Police Service in their search for the suspects.
The number of individuals injured in this incident surpasses that of other shootings in the area in 2024.
Last year, eight people were injured and two killed in shootings and firearm discharges in the police division where Friday’s incident occurred, the department’s data shows.
In Toronto, which has a three million population, 43 people were killed in shootings last year.
According to 2021 data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Canada reports a firearm homicide rate of 0.6 per 100,000 individuals, significantly lower than the United States, which stands at 4.5 per 100,000 people.
