Six dead including 73-year-old suspect in shooting near Toronto
Police escort people out of the lobby after a fatal mass shooting at a condominium building in the Toronto suburb of Vaughan on Monday. Reuters
A 73-year-old man shot and killed five people at a suburban Toronto condominium building before police officers killed him, authorities said.
Chief James MacSween of the York Regional Police said one of his officers fatally shot the gunman at a condo in Vaughan, Ontario.
Police did not disclose a possible motive for the attack or release the names or ages of anyone who was killed, including the alleged assailant. But Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, which gets involved when there is a death or serious injury involving police, said on Monday that the alleged attacker was 73.
"Horrendous scene,” MacSween said late on Sunday. "Six deceased. One of them is the subject. The other five are victims.”
One person who was shot by the attacker was hospitalised and was expected to survive, the chief said. MacSween said he didn’t know whether the shooter lived at the condo building.
York Regional Police say officers were called to the Vaughan, Ontario condo for an active shooting around 7:20pm on Sunday.
Police evacuated the building on Sunday, but MacSween said there was no further threat to the community. Residents were allowed to return home early on Monday. Resident John Santoro said police went floor to floor to try to find out if anybody else was involved.
"When I opened my door, police were in the corridor. There were two officers right outside my door in the elevator lobby,” he said.
Mass shootings are rare in Canada, and Toronto has long prided itself as being one of the world's safest big cities. Vaughan is just north of Toronto.
Canadians are nervous about anything that might indicate they are moving closer to the gun violence situation in the US, where mass shootings are common.
"Everybody is horrified,” Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca said. "To wake up to this news this morning or see it last night, we are in absolute shock. ... This is something I never thought I would see here.”
Associated Press
