3 men injured in east-end shooting, 1 remains in serious condition

Police tape is shown in a file photo. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Three men are in hospital, one in serious condition, after a shooting in Toronto’s east end on Saturday afternoon.

The incident happened in the area of Victoria Park Avenue and Lawrence Avenue East just before 5 p.m., according to police.

Officers responded to reports of gunfire in the area and located a 26-year-old man with gunshot wounds to his arm and hand, according to Toronto Police Service (TPS) Duty Inspector Jason Albanese.

Police initially said the man sustained serious injuries, but have since said that he is in stable condition at a local hospital.

“We subsequently located a scene out front of 1441 Lawrence Avenue East, with evidence of gunfire. We look into some shell casings out front and we believe that that's where this shooting occurred,” Albanese said.

At around 5:20 p.m., police say they received information that two other men had arrived at a local hospital, each suffering from gunshot wounds.

“When Toronto police arrived [at the hospital], we found a 26-year-old male with a gunshot wound to the leg. He is in stable condition,” Albanese said.

“We also located a 30-year-old male with a gunshot wound to the chest or the stomach, we're still sorting that out. He has subsequently been transferred to a local trauma center in serious condition.”

Albanese said that it’s still too early in the investigation to say for certain whether all three victims were shot in the same incident, however he said investigators are exploring that possibility.

“I don't have any information on suspects at this point,” Albanese said.

“We are in the area canvassing at the moment trying to determine exactly who was responsible for this. We have our forensic identification services on scene, processing, and we have investigative teams on scene canvassing the buildings looking for witnesses.”

Albanese went on to say that he doesn’t believe there is any threat to public safety.

“I don't think the community at large has to worry at the moment that there's going to be more gunfire in the area tonight,” he said.

“But it's too early for me to say if these three people are connected to this one incident or not.”

Police are asking any witnesses or anyone with information about this incident to contact investigators at 416-808-3300.