A man believed to be in his 20s is dead after a shooting at North York Sheridan Mall in north-end Toronto Thursday afternoon.
Toronto police and paramedics were called to the plaza near Jane Street and Wilson Avenue at around 5:20 p.m. with reports of a shooting. A man was found with a gunshot wound inside the mall. He died at the scene.
Karen Bijai, who was at a dentist’s office in the floor below where the shooting occurred for an appointment, said she heard the shots being fired.
“At first I thought something fell … and then there was another boom, boom, boom,” she said.
“Everybody was kind of (like), ‘What was that?’ and then people started running in because they immediately closed the doors and brought everyone who was in a dentist’s chair or in the office to the back room … because if necessary there was a back door.”
Bijai said it felt like everything happened in under a minute. She recalled speaking with a man moments after the shooting
“A guy said, ‘I saw a man get shot’ … and that’s when I realized that was nothing falling over, those were gunshots.”
Lisa Salvador works in a dental office and lives a few minutes away from the mall. She said the people in the office were in shock.
“For the most part I’ve always felt safe both in this area and in the city of Toronto, but this really hits close to home.”
Global News spoke with a tool store employee, who only wanted to be identified as Ted due to security concerns. He was working inside the mall during the incident. He said the victim was shot near a Wilson Avenue entrance, went through the mall and collapsed in front of a games store.
Meanwhile, police said they are looking for four suspects.
Anyone with information is being asked to call police at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477.