Updated 6.01 pm
A SHOOTING THAT started at a Toronto nightclub event hosted by rapper Drake, and then spilled onto the streets outside, has left at least two people dead and three others wounded.
Toronto deputy police chief Peter Sloly said that, despite a large police presence outside the venue, shots were fired inside Muzik nightclub as it was shutting down at approximately 3:30 am this morning.
“This was a brazen, large-scale, ongoing firearm incident where our officers and members of the public were directly in the line of fire,” Sloly said.
“We are very lucky that this is not a larger body count, quite frankly.”
Medics told TheJournal.ie one person was pronounced dead at the scene outside the Muzik nightclub. It’s now been confirmed that two people have died with a total of five people shot.
Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash said no arrests have been made. It wasn’t immediately clear how many suspects there are, or what led to the shooting.
Police believe there could be more victims at other locations and urged citizens to contact authorities. Sloly said police fired no shots.
The nightclub was hosting the official OVO Fest after-party which had earlier featured the rapper as its main draw. It’s not clear clear if Drake was present during the shooting.
Superintendent Frank Bergen said the victims were a man and woman in their 20s and 30s. He said three people were hospitalised with various injuries. Sloly said the injuries are not life-threatening.
Sloly said there was at least one victim inside the club, then the shooting moved outside.
“Our officers were present when the initial shots went off. They were within meters of the initial shooting,” he said.
“Literally our officers were running toward live-fire incidents. The officer who found the female, now deceased, was seconds behind when she was shot and was able to, in her last breaths, provide CPR and do all he could to keep her alive.”
- With reporting by Michelle Hennessy and Rónán Duffy
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