Deadly Shooting On Toronto Avenue

A gunman has opened fire on a busy avenue in Toronto, killing a young woman and injuring 13 other people, one of them critically, police say.

The victim critically injured in the Canadian city’s Greektown district is a girl of eight or nine, they add.

The gunman is dead, reportedly killed in an exchange of shots.

The attack erupted on Danforth Avenue on Sunday evening, when the area was teeming with people, Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper reports.

The motive for the shooting, which reportedly targeted at least two cafes or restaurants, is still unclear.

In a video clip shared by Canadian media, a white man wearing a dark cap and dark clothing and carrying a shoulder bag can be seen stopping on a pavement and pulling out a handgun before firing shots.

Some of the victims were treated at the scene, while others were taken to local hospitals.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

Toronto Mayor John Tory condemned the “despicable” attack on “people innocently enjoying a Sunday evening”.

The premier of the province of Ontario, Doug Ford, tweeted a message of support to the victims of the attack.

Gun violence is much rarer in Canada than over the border in the US, but Toronto has seen attacks increase dramatically in recent years.

Shootings in the city over a holiday weekend earlier this month led to Mayor Tory saying he was working to get more police patrolling the streets.

What happened?

Emergency services were called out just after 22:00 (02:00 GMT Monday). The site of the attack is a piazza with a fountain that is popular with local people and was busy at the time, the Globe and Mail writes.

A number of people were reportedly hurt in a cafe called the Demetres, while others were hit in the street.

Andrew Mantzios had been drinking coffee with friends by the fountain when he heard shots and turned around to see the gunman coming towards his group.

“He had this horrible expression on his face,” Mr Mantzios was quoted as saying by the paper.

The gunman fired at a crowd of people waiting to cross the street, he said.

“And then a lady tried to run and she fell down. He turned around and shot her point blank, two or three times.”

Mr Mantzios and his friends dropped to the ground for cover and watched as the attacker criss-crossed the avenue, shooting into businesses.

Other eyewitnesses said they heard volleys of shots, with pauses in between.

“It would shoot, there’d be a pause, we heard more shooting, and then a pause and then more shooting,” John Tulloch, who was walking on the avenue with his brother at the time, told the paper.

“There must’ve been 20, 30 shots, altogether. It was a lot. We just ran. People weren’t yelling but I think everyone was concerned,” he added.

“It just seemed very surreal, almost like it wasn’t really happening. But everyone was sort of moving and going away. It was hard to believe it was real.”

What do we know of the attacker?

Toronto police confirmed the gunman had been killed but gave no other details. It is unclear whether he was shot by police or killed himself.

Mayor Tory appealed for people not to draw any conclusions before there was further information from the police.

Jessica Young, an employee at the Second Cup cafe, said she had seen the gunman’s face before he fired through the window.

“I look to my side and see the shooter through the window,” she told the Toronto Star newspaper.

“He sees me, or he sees my co-worker or someone, and points the gun and shoots through the window. He was probably no taller than me, wearing a black baseball cap, dark clothes. He had light skin. I think he had short facial hair. That’s all I could make out.”

Source: BBC