(CNN) — Two people were killed and several others injured after at least two shooters exchanged gunfire amid crowds of roughly 13,000 people at Canada’s biggest Latin street festival in Toronto on Saturday, police said.
A total of six people were shot, and several suspects are believed to be at large after the shooting at the Salsa on St. Clair festival, Toronto Police Service Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said at a news conference late Saturday.
Both of the deceased victims were men, Barredo said, while the four injured victims were taken to hospitals with “serious injuries.” Investigators have cordoned off three crime scenes and recovered two firearms, but there is no ongoing threat to the public, he added.
“This seemed to be an exchange of gunfire between two individuals targeting each other,” Barredo said, adding the shooting “indiscriminately put vast numbers of people in danger.”
The festival will not resume for its second day on Sunday due to the ongoing police investigation, organizers said, and offered prayers to the victims’ families.
Police were back at the scene Sunday, City Councillor Josh Matlow said on X.
Festivalgoers ran down sidewalks from the scene, restricted by yellow tape, as scores of black police SUVs and patrol cars, heavy-duty armored vehicles and ambulances sped toward it, CTV footage showed.
Joanna Lavoie, a journalist with Canadian media outlet CP24 who was attending the festival, said “the mood instantly changed” after the gunshots rang out. Lavoie told CP24, a CNN affiliate, she saw a woman who appeared to have been shot and suffering from significant injuries.
“Everyone was just in disbelief and fear. It was a terrifying situation. We’re here to have fun … we didn’t expect anything like this to happen, and it was the last thing we expected.” Lavoie said.
Valerie Rodriguez told the Associated Press she was sitting outside a restaurant when she heard screams and saw people running. “A bunch of people … told us to lay down onto the floor,” she said.
Police said they secured the scene roughly an hour after the shooting began but continued to urge people to stay away from the area in the city’s midtown, where the multiday festival celebrating Latin culture has been held annually for 22 years, according to organizers.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow condemned the shooting as “a reckless, despicable act of violence at a crowded festival” and promised authorities would work tirelessly to identify the suspects.
“I will ensure Toronto Police have every resource they need to find those responsible, and they will keep working around the clock to get guns off our streets,” the mayor said in a statement on X.
Chow and police are urging any festival attendees with footage or information to contact police.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement he is “horrified” by the deadly shooting at the busy Toronto festival. “My prayers are with the families grieving their loved ones … and everyone who has been affected by this horrific event,” Carney wrote.
While deadly gun violence is less common in Canada than in the US, it still ravages communities.
Less than three weeks ago, the country was devastated by another mass shooting when a gunman opened fire in Montreal. A subsequent shootout with police killed two people in broad daylight and marked the first time a Montreal officer has been killed in the line of duty in two decades.
The shooting took place in a country with far stronger gun laws compared to the US and where mass shootings are infrequent. After Canada suffered its most deadly shooting in Nova Scotia in 2020, where 22 people were killed, the government put in place major reforms and bans on assault-style weapons.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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