At least two people were killed and four others wounded in a major shootout incident at a street festial in Canada’s Toronto on Saturday evening, police said.
Initially, the Toronto Police Service described the incident as an active shooter situation. However, Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo later said, “There was some concern of an active shooter. That turned out not to be the case”.
Barredo informed that investigators have recovered two firearms after the shooting incident was reported at 8:12 p.m. (local time) near St. Clair Avenue West and Arlington Avenue, where the Salsa on St. Clair festival was taking place.
“It’s very difficult to say with certainty what precipitated this… I can tell you that there was an exchange of gunfire between individuals and that two firearms were recovered,” CBS News quoted Barredo as saying.
The senior official informed that police responded to find six people with gunshot wounds, with two of them died at the scene. The remaining four people were taken to area hospitals, with all of them said to be serious condition.
As of now, no suspect or suspects was arrested by the time of a late-night news conference, where Barredo confirmed that both of the deceased victims were men.
Barredo further stated that it was not known whether any of the suspects were among the victims.
Nearly, 1,300 people are said to have attended the festival on Saturday, with officials disclosing that there were three separate crime scenes.
“We will piece together some of those bits of information, and when we’re able to share it with the public, we certainly will,” the deputy chief noted.