5 dead and suspect killed in ‘horrendous’ condo shooting outside Toronto
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NBC News — Six people, including the suspect, are dead after a shooting at a condominium just outside Toronto on Sunday night.
Police were called to a residential building in the city of Vaughan, just north of Toronto, at around 7:20 p.m. ET Sunday for reports of an active shooter who had shot several people, York Regional Police said in a news release.
At least five people were killed, while a sixth victim was taken to hospital in serious condition following the deadly shooting, police said.
The suspect, who has only been identified as a male, was killed during an “interaction” with officers, police said. Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, which investigates incidents of death or serious injury involving police, has been notified, it said.
York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween described the scene as “horrendous,” according to NBC Bay Area.
“We offer our sincere condolences to the victims and their families,” he said in a separate statement.
It was not immediately clear what unfolded in the lead-up to the shooting or what any potential motive could be.
MacSween said police believed there was no further threat to public safety.
Police said the investigation into the shooting was active and ongoing, with updates to come. They urged anyone with information regarding the shooting to contact the York Regional Police Homicide Unit at 1-288-876-5423 ext. 7865 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, or leave an anonymous tip online at www.1800222tips.com.
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada.
In April 2020, a gunman killed at least 16 people in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia during an hourslong rampage that marked the country’s deadliest shooting in decades.
In July 2018, a man killed two people and wounded 13 others before turning the gun on himself after walking down a busy street in Toronto and shooting randomly into restaurants.
A deadly shooting at a mosque in Quebec City also made international headlines in January 2017 after a man opened fire during evening prayers, killing six people and wounding five others.