Toronto shooting: ‘We just ran’

Suspect killed, motive unclear in attack that killed 2, wounded 13

A second shooting victim died Monday after a gunman’s rampage in a Toronto neighborhood that left 13 people wounded and chaos on a thoroughfare crowded with bars and restaurants. Authorities have not determined a motive.

Police Chief Mark Saunders said an 18-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl were killed. The wounded ranged in age from 10 to 59, and some might have life-changing injuries, he said.

The suspect, 29, died minutes later after an exchange of gunfire with police officers a few blocks from Sunday’s carnage, Saunders said. It was not clear whether the suspect shot himself or was killed by officers.

“We do not know why this happened yet,” Saunders said Monday. “This is still a new investigation.”

Saunders said the shooting, in the Greektown neighborhood, was not random, and he did not rule out terrorism as a motive. He asked the public for help through eyewitness information, videos and photos from the scene.

“I heard ‘pop, pop,’ and then I turned because I thought it was fireworks … and then the mother of a friend of mine goes, ‘They’re shooting at us – run inside!’ ” Stavy Karnouskou, who was standing outside a bar with friends when the gunfire began, told the Toronto Star.

The attack in Canada’s largest city came three months after a 25-year-old man in a rented truck mowed down pedestrians along iconic Yonge Street, killing 10 and injuring 15.

“There is a newness to this in Toronto,” Saunders said. “There is no magic pill to take and say ‘All is well.’ ”

Mayor John Tory said the city has a gun problem. Although mass shootings are rare in Canada’s largest city, police recently have deployed dozens of additional officers to deal with a spike in gun violence.

“Guns are too readily available to too many people,” Tory said.

Gun-related deaths have accounted for 23 of Toronto’s 52 homicides this year, compared with 16 fatal shootings in the first six months of 2017, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail.

With more than 2 million people, Toronto is among the biggest cities in North America. In Chicago, which has a slightly lower population, there have been 290 homicides, according to a database maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

A video from one witness of Sunday’s shooting spree shows a man dressed in black walking quickly and firing three shots from the sidewalk into at least one shop or restaurant.

John Tulloch said he and his brother had just gotten out of their car when he heard about 20 to 30 gunshots.

“We just ran,” he said. “We saw people starting to run, so we just ran.”