A 21-year-old man is dead after he was gunned down outside of an east-end restaurant early Tuesday morning.
The unidentified victim was shot in the doorway of Rotana Cafe on Danforth Avenue, just west of Coxwell Avenue, at 1:30 a.m.
He was rushed to St. Michael's Hospital in life-threatening condition, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Police said they believe a suspect or suspects fled the scene on foot before getting into a vehicle on Rhodes Avenue.
Several people witnessed the shooting, but police said none of them are co-operating with the investigation.
Prior to the incident, witnesses told CTV Toronto there was a large group of men from the cafe who were arguing in a parkette across the street. They say the man who was gunned down was running back into the cafe when the shots rang out.
According to neighbourhood residents and local business owners, the cafe is typically packed with patrons after 11 p.m. The crowd usually spills out onto the sidewalk despite the no-loitering sign on the cafe's storefront.
"There's no liquor license here, so they go to these clubs, they hang around, they get drunk and they come here because they know it’s open late at night," the owner of a Danforth family restaurant told CTV Toronto.
This is not the first time police have been called to Rotana Cafe. In September 2013, off-duty Markham firefighter Dominic Parker was fatally stabbed while sitting on a couch inside the late-night eatery. Police later arrested a person who was not known to Parker.
Officers have asked anyone with more information to come forward. They're also checking with nearby homes and businesses for security camera footage that may have captured images of the incident or the suspects.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney
