Authorities say three masked men “set fire indiscriminately” in a Canadian city pub.
Police in Toronto say they are looking for three men suspected of taking part in a shooting that injured at least 12 people at a Canadian pub.
The masked shooter opened fire at the Piper Arms Pub on Friday opening night, authorities said. The attack was the latest in a longstanding rise in gun violence in North American countries, urging lawmakers to freeze sales of several firearms in recent years.
“They went into the bar. They produced guns and fired indiscriminately at people sitting inside the bar,” police chief Paul McInteel told reporters on Saturday.
McIntyre, who is in the Organized Crime Enforcement Unit, added that six casualties suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. He added that others were injured by broken glass.
The motive for the shooting remained unknown, police said.
“Our research shows whether this pub was targeted for a particular reason,” MacIntyre said.
“Maybe someone didn’t like anyone. Maybe someone had beef in business. I don’t know,” he added.
Officers told reporters he saw surveillance video of the bar shooting.
“This is a reckless act of violence that has shaken our community and our cities,” he said, adding that police “do not turn the stones over” when finding suspects.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said on social media platform X that she was “deeply plagued” to hear about the shooting at the pub, adding that the police chief has assured her “all the necessary resources have been deployed.”
According to the Canadian government, violent crime, including guns, has increased by 81% since 2009.
In December 2022, five people were killed and another injured in a shooting outside Toronto.
The surge in gun violence has recently led the government to ban more types of handguns and other firearms.
In April 2020, a gunman disguised as a police officer killed 22 people in Canada’s worst mass shooting, Eastern Nova Scotia. The country banned 1,500 military-grade or attack style firearms a few days after the Nova Scotia shooting.
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