On Monday night, a shootout in Toronto took the lives of two people, wounded another 19 and saw three more trampled at a block party in the city’s east end. The two who died at the shooting scene were a teenage female and a 20-year old male. Three were injured badly when people trampled them when they panicked trying to flee the gunshots.
On Tuesday morning, police in Toronto said that one of the other 19 wounded by gunfire was a baby less than two years old, who had been hit in the head with a bullet.
It was not immediately known what the child’s condition was. The ages of others that were injured during the melee ranged from 16 years of age to 30. One person who spoke to reporters following the incident said the shooting was frightening and very tragic for everyone involved. Police said that the incident was just another example of senseless violence. One officer said it was the worse act of violence he had seen in his 35 years on the police force.
Police said that one of the people injured in the shooting was also a person of interest and was in police custody. A police spokesperson said more than one firearm had been used in the melee and one weapon had been left at the scene.
Toronto police said the incident rocked all of Canada as it contained violence not seen before. Information as to what exactly took place was still being gathered by detectives from the gangs and guns units of the police department. It is believed that over 200 people attended the block party.
