Three masked men ‘opened fire indiscriminately’ at pub in the Canadian city, authorities say.
Police in Toronto say they are searching for three men suspected of taking part in a shooting that wounded at least 12 people at a pub in the Canadian city.
The masked gunmen opened fire at the Piper Arms Pub on its opening night on Friday, according to authorities. The attack was the latest incident in a years-long uptick in gun violence in the North American country, which has prompted legislators to freeze the sale of some firearms in recent years.
“They walked into the bar. They produced their guns, and they opened fire indiscriminately on the people sitting inside the bar,” police Superintendent Paul MacIntyre told reporters on Saturday.
MacIntyre, who is with the organised crime enforcement unit, added that six of the victims have gunshot wounds that are not life-threatening. He added that the others were injured by broken glass.
The motive for the shooting remained unclear, police said.
“Our investigation will tell us whether or not this pub was targeted for a particular reason,” MacIntyre said.
“Maybe somebody was inside that somebody didn’t like. Maybe somebody had a beef with the business. We don’t know,” he added.
The police official told reporters that he had seen the bar’s surveillance video of the shooting, which showed people ducking for cover or falling on the floor after being struck.
“This is a reckless act of violence that has shaken our community and city,” he said, adding that the police will leave “no stone unturned” in finding the suspects.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said on the social media platform X that she was “deeply troubled” to hear about the shooting at the pub and added that the police chief had assured her “all necessary resources have been deployed.”
Violent crime involving guns has increased by 81 percent since 2009, according to the Canadian government.
In December 2022, five people were killed and another wounded in a shooting in the suburbs of Toronto.
The surge in gun violence has prompted the government to recently ban more kinds of handguns and other firearms.
In April 2020, a gunman disguised as a policeman killed 22 people in the eastern province of Nova Scotia, Canada’s worst mass shooting. The country banned 1,500 types of military-grade or assault-style firearms days after the Nova Scotia shooting.