Toronto mall evacuated after gunshots fired

Panic erupted at a sprawling Toronto mall on Thursday afternoon after gunshots fired following an altercation between two groups sent terrified shoppers running for cover.

No one was injured in the incident that took place in the southeast corner of the bustling Yorkdale Shopping Centre just before 3 p.m., and investigators said they were searching for multiple suspects.

“There was an altercation between two groups of men, at some point one of the individuals from one of the groups discharged a firearm at least twice,” said Supt. Rob Johnson. “Thankfully no one was hit in this.”

Police said the suspects fled the mall on foot, noting that the two groups were made up of at least three men each. Police said two of the suspects being sought were men in their 20s and one was believed to have a black handgun.

The incident was the latest in a string of high-profile shootings in the city this year. In July two people were killed in a rampage in Toronto’s Greektown, a month earlier two young girls were wounded in a shooting at a playground, and days later a woman on her way home from a funeral died in a drive by-shooting police called indicative of a “street gang subculture.”

Thursday’s mall shooting saw shoppers and store employees scrambling to get to safety once shots rang out.

“We thought something fell, and then we heard it again a second time,” said Donald Mudavanhu, who had been at the mall to buy prescription sunglasses.

“Everyone just started running, there was a huge crowd of people.”