Toronto police believe more than one firearm was used in a deadly shooting outside of the busy Yorkdale shopping mall on Saturday night.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference outside the mall Sunday afternoon, Det. Rob North said 23-year-old victim Michael Nguyen was known to police. The Toronto man was pronounced dead at the scene Saturday after his body was found outside on the roadway near the mall’s Sears entrance.
A second victim injured in the shooting was also known to police in a “minor” way, North said. That victim remains in hospital in stable condition.
Police say the shooting was prompted by a confrontation between two groups before gunfire erupted in the southwest end of the mall’s parking lot shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday.
North said there is no indication the shooting was gang-related and cautioned that the investigation into Toronto’s 15th homicide is still in its infancy.
Police initially said the altercation had begun inside the mall but later corrected the statement and said it’s unclear where the dispute started. No shots were fired inside the mall and no bystanders were targeted or wounded, North said.
Detectives are reviewing surveillance camera footage from the mall to identify the suspects involved in the shooting, and a number of witnesses have been interviewed.
After holding hundreds of vehicles at the mall parking lots overnight, police on Sunday afternoon said all vehicles can now be released, including those within the crime scene.
After the shooting, police stopped vehicles as they left the mall parking lot, taking down licence plate numbers and the occupants’ personal information.
“Police were checking every single car, so there were lots of lineups in the parking lot,” shopper Violetta Holl told CTV News. She added that she was not able to leave the mall before 1 a.m.
“There was definitely a sense of panic and frustration,” Holl said.
“People were trying to get out, honking everywhere. People were getting really upset,” mall employee Carlos Oritz added.
On Sunday morning, police questioned again those returning to pick up their cars.
Police also towed a car considered a “vehicle of interest” from the Yorkdale parking lot early Sunday as part of the investigation.
Investigators said they are looking for five or six suspects in connection to the shooting. No description of the suspects has been released.
More than 50 officers from multiple divisions have been reassigned to help collect evidence and examine the scene.
In a statement released Sunday, police said they believed there were many witnesses to the shooting who left the area prior to police arriving. Investigators urged those people to call 32 Division at 416-808-3200.
Yorkdale Shopping Centre released a statement early Sunday saying they are co-operating with police in the ongoing investigation.
“Like all Torontonians, we were shocked with the incident that occurred outside Yorkdale in the parking lot on Saturday evening,” the statement reads. “We take security at Yorkdale very seriously in order to keep our customers safe.”
Yorkdale officials also released several tweets thanking the public for their patience.
Yorkdale Shopping Centre is closed for Easter Sunday and will reopen for regular business on Monday.
The shooting comes less than a year after the fatal Toronto Eaton Centre food court shooting where one man died and seven others were wounded.
“(It is) shocking for us because we’re newcomers in this country,” Carlo Montoya told CTV Toronto as he returned to Yorkdale mall to retrieve his car. “Back home it happens every day, but seeing this happening here in Canada is not what we were expecting of this country.”
With files from The Canadian Press
