Toronto police Chief Bill Blair says two people died and at least 19 others were wounded in a shooting that occurred at a block party in the city’s east end on Monday night.
Toronto police have responded to a late-night shooting on Danzig Street, in the Morningside Avenue and Lawrence Avenue East area. (Ivy Cuervo/CBC)Speaking to reporters hours after the shooting in the Morningside Avenue and Lawrence Avenue East area, a visibly shaken Blair confirmed that a teenage girl and a young adult male had been killed in the violence.
An infant was also wounded in the shooting, though the police chief said the child’s injuries were not life threatening. He said most of the remaining injured appeared to be adults
Blair said the violence, which apparently erupted when a dispute broke out at the party, was the worst he had seen in a three-decades long policing career.
“We’ll be bringing a lot of resources to bear on this because it is the most serious crime of its kind that has ever taken place in the City of Toronto,†Blair said, noting that the homicide squad, intelligence unit, as well as the guns and gangs unit were already involved in the investigation.
Blair said that police are still gathering
information about the party and those who attended.
Police believe that more than 200 people attended the party on Danzig Street in the city's east end.
“I think every citizen of Toronto will be a little shaken up by what has transpired here in Scarborough tonight,†said Blair.
“This is an area of the city that has never experienced this level of violence before.â€
Toronto EMS initially reported that at least seven people had been sent to hospital, though police Const. Wendy Drummond later told reporters that there were “upwards of 19 victims."
Blair said the number of victims could still rise, if more come forward in the hours ahead.
The victims were transported to various hospitals in the area, including the Scarborough Hospital, the Hospital for Sick Children, St. Michael’s Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences
Centre.
Drummond said police were dealing with a large crime scene and were trying to make contact with any witnesses who saw the shooting.Increase in number of shootingsPolice have been dealing with a sharp increase in the number of shootings in the City of Toronto this year compared to last.
The Monday night shooting left two people dead and 19 others injured, police say. (Tony Smyth/CBC)According to preliminary statistics posted on the police
website, there have been 140 reported shooting incidents as of July 16.
That’s an increase of 32.1 per cent compared to the number reported at the same time last year.
Prior to the shooting on Monday evening, 16 people had been killed in gun-related homicides on the streets of Toronto since January 1, compared to 14 people at the same time last year.
The Monday night shooting in Scarborough was also the latest event in which a gun was fired in a crowded public place.
A shooting at the Eaton Centre on June 2 left one man dead and
another fatally wounded
.
Later that month, a man was
shot dead on a crowded patio in Little Italy
where patrons had gathered to watch a soccer
game.
On
Canada Day, a man was shot in the chest
after the close of a fireworks show
.