One person is dead and two others are injured after a daylight shooting in the parking lot of a north Toronto mall on Monday, police say.
Toronto police said the shooting happened in the parking lot of Fairview Mall, located in the area of Don Mills Road and Sheppard Avenue East, after 4 p.m.
Officers responded to the scene along with Toronto paramedics.
Police said two shooting victims were located and a third victim made their own way to hospital.
A paramedics spokesperson told Global News they transported two men to hospital.
In an update, Toronto police said one of the victims died in hospital, while one other victim was in life-threatening condition and the third was in non-life-threatening condition.
Speaking to reporters, Toronto Police Insp. Mike Hayles said all three victims are men in their 20s.
According to Hayles, the investigation is in its “infancy.” He added that officers do not have suspect descriptions at this time.
However, Hayles said “several people” were seen fleeing from the scene both on foot and in vehicles.
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Investigators are now working to determine which of those people are persons of interest, and which were just patrons of the mall.
“We are working diligently — our investigators are on scene working diligently — to try to identify those persons or person that may have been responsible for this incident,” he said.
Hayles said the incident occurred in the parking structure outside of the mall, adding that there is no information at this time to suggest there was any threat to those inside the shopping centre.
Asked by reporters whether the incident is gang-related, Hayles said it’s “too early” to say definitively, but added that it has not been ruled out.
“What I can say is, is that in this particular instance, there is currently no information that exists that indicates that this interaction between these subjects at this shooting was nothing other than a isolated incident involving these subjects, specifically, and at no point — at least at this this time — do we have any information that any threat existed to anyone inside the structure,” Hayles said.
Police are now appealing for witnesses. Anyone with information, or who may have dashcam or other video footage of the area, or of cars leaving the area, is asked to contact police.
Hayles said the public will notice an increased police presence at the mall for the next several hours.
-with files from Global News’ Hannah Jackson
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