Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has been called in after police fired several gunshots at a car leaving the scene of a west-end shooting early Sunday morning.
Two people were injured, one of them critically, in the initial shooting, which occurred outside Muzik Nightclub at around 2:30 a.m.
Another two occupants in the vehicle also suffered gunshot wounds.
A male officer suffered minor injuries but has since been released from hospital
Toronto police are handling the investigation into the initial shooting, while the SIU is probing the circumstances surrounding the secondary shooting.
“Police officers were in the area and encountered a vehicle that was leaving the scene. At that time shots were fired,” Lead Investigator Derrick Wide told reporters Sunday afternoon. “We don’t know how many shots were fired at this time because we are still examining police firearms, but we know that at least two officers were involved.”
According to Wide, the officers made the decision to fire at the vehicle after it sped off when they tried to stop it from leaving the scene.
The vehicle was eventually found riddled with bullet holes a short distance away near the Dufferin Gate exit to the CNE grounds.
All three occupants were taken into custody, however the two injured in the shooting are currently being treated in hospital.
“The responding officers came across the vehicle and found two people in the front seat suffering from gunshot wounds and there was a third party in the vehicle that had not received any injuries,” Wide said. “The SIU at this time is interviewing civilian witnesses and trying to establish the exact role of the officers involved.”
The SIU is an arm's-length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
Seven investigators and three forensic investigators have been assigned to the case.
According to a press release issued by Muzik Nightclub Sunday morning, the initial shooting did not occur on property owned by the club.
