TORONTO -- A 24-year-old man is in hospital with serious injuries after a daylight shooting in Parkdale.
Shots rang out in the area of West Lodge and Seaforth avenues, in the area of Queen Street West and Lansdowne Avenue, Wednesday evening at around 5:45 p.m.
Police responded and found a man suffering from gunshot wounds.
“When they arrived on scene they located a 24-year-old male victim, who had been shot twice in the upper body – once in the shoulder and once in the abdomen,” Inspector Michael Williams told CP24 at the scene. “He has been taken to a local trauma centre.”
He was transported to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Toronto Paramedic services said.
Police found one vehicle at the scene that had been damaged by gunfire.
Reports from the scene indicate that two suspects approached the victim on foot and that there was some kind of verbal exchange prior to the shooting, police said.
Two male suspects in their early 20s fled the area after the victim was shot, police said.
“After the shooting took place both of them fled to a waiting dark sedan,” Williams said. “We believe there's possibly a driver in that vehicle. The three of them fled in an unknown direction.”
The shooting occurred as many people were out in the neighbourhood enjoying a sunny evening with unusually warm weather and Williams said it is “very concerning” that there were many people nearby at the time.
“It's a busy, busy, bustling neighborhood,” he said. “There's a kid playing in the park right now, obviously of great concern to everyone involved, you know, not only that a victim was struck but everyone ends up being traumatized by seeing and hearing something like this happen.”
Police are on-scene investigating. Some roads in the area have been shut down to accommodate the investigation.
Investigators are asking anyone with further information to contact police.
