Two people are dead and at least 19 injured, including an infant, after gunfire erupted at a barbeque in the eastern Toronto district of Scarborough Monday night.
The names of the deceased have not been released, but one was a young teenaged girl and the other a 20-year-old man.
Police said many of the victims were children. The infant suffered a gunshot wound but was in stable condition, while a 17-year-old girl was shot in the arm.
Others were hurt in the ensuing chaos as people scrambled for safety.
“This is the worst incident of gunfire, in my memory, anywhere in North America,” Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said.
The barbeque was organized for youth in the community and had drawn about 100 people. Blair said there was an altercation, multiple guns were fired and "during that gunfire a number of innocent bystanders were struck."
Among the victims was a 59-year-old woman who was shot in the lower back and sought help blocks away at a nearby laundromat.
“This is a tremendously frightening and tragic event,” said Blair.
Ten ambulances were dispatched to the scene, as well as a support bus.
The shooting occurred at a home on Danzig Street, near Morningside Avenue and Lawrence Avenue East, shortly before 11 p.m.
A handgun was recovered near the scene, and Blair said one of the injured was considered “a person of interest.”
Toronto police are asking witnesses and people who attended the party to call them with information at 416-808-4300.
