A recent spate of brazen shootings in Scarborough are cause for concern and police say witnesses have been far from forthcoming with information.

The violence started early Sunday morning at a barbeque organized for a woman’s birthday.

As more than 200 people celebrated outside a home on Gennela Square, police say some sort of altercation broke out between guests at around 1 a.m.

In the midst of the exchange, shots rang out.

Thirty-three-year-old Rinaldo Cole and 30-year-old Dwayne Campbell were both struck by bullets and died at the scene.

A third person – the woman whose birthday was being celebrated – also suffered gunshot wounds. She was initially taken to hospital in critical condition but police say she has since stabilized in hospital.

Investigators have a “large amount” of video footage from the party that may offer some clues about potential suspects, but say that few of the barbeque attendees have been forthcoming about what occurred that night.

Meanwhile, the gunplay continued Sunday evening, just a short distance away.

Police say they were called to an area near McLevin Avenue and Empringham Drive at around 6:45 p.m. after someone called to report a shooting.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man without vital signs.

Despite attempts to revive the man, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Friends and nearby residents crowded the residential street as police officers taped off a large section near a parked vehicle.

One neighbour told CTV News Toronto that she heard “screaming or arguing” before the sound of gunshots.

Others expressed concern about the ordeal, saying the neighborhood is typically quiet and peaceful.

“At first I thought one of her kids’ basketballs had blown up – that’s what I thought when I heard the big bang because it was very loud, it wasn’t a pop, it was a huge bang. And then I saw her on the ground screaming and crying,” said Bev Phil, who lives near where the shooting unfolded.

“It’s scary because it’s right there. It’s in your own front yard.”

The victim, believed to be a man in his 20s, has not yet been publicly identified by police.

Investigators are searching for a suspect described as a brown male in his mid-20s with some facial hair and wearing a hooded sweatshirt. He was last seen speeding away from the area on McLevin Avenue in a light-coloured, four-door vehicle.

While the gunfire is concerning to police, Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash says he’s confident that investigators will make swift headway on identifying suspects and leads.

“Of course its concerning. Anytime someone uses a firearm, it’s concerning. Anytime anyone is killed under whatever circumstance, its concerning,” he said. “We’re working very hard on this. We have highly skilled and incredibly tenacious homicide investigators working on this. We also have additional patrol officers in the area but we will do whatever it takes to solve these homicides.”

Pugash says that police are aware they can’t ‘arrest their way out of’ the incidents of violence and will continue to put an emphasis on community initiatives surrounding gun violence.

“We heard from the detective on Saturday that he wasn’t getting very many people coming forward, but I have to tell you, in the vast majority of cases we get excellent cooperation,” he said. “I’m confident as this investigation continues, as we’re able to provide more information to the public, that we’ll see more people coming forward.”

Despite the violent weekend, Pugash said that homicides are down 41 per cent this year over last.

“There are what we call clusters, which is multiple homicides in a short period of time and we have between six and nine of those a year and by the end of the year, the numbers tend to be in a narrow range,” Pugash said.

“Now that doesn’t diminish the importance or the seriousness, and I can certainly understand that people in the community affected by this are very concerned and so are we and we will do whatever is necessary to detect these, but perspective is always important.”

Meanwhile, Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack says a strained police force may be hindering officers from effectively preventing and investigating serious crimes.

“We’re not saying this is a cause of a lack of personnel, we’re saying that it makes it very difficult for us to respond to these types of calls because we don’t have the resources. As I said earlier, we don’t have that proactive policing component,” he said.

“Our officers are going from call to call, so we don’t get that intelligence in the forefront and it’s very difficult for us to prevent this. I’m not saying that this is the sole cause of this (shootings), but definitely a lack of personnel in the community is having an impact.”

Police will continue to investigate the deaths today. Investigators have not indicated whether they believe the two shootings are connected.