Last Updated
A party at a downtown Airbnb condo turned deadly Friday night when gunfire erupted killing three young men and injuring two others.
Toronto Police raced to 85 Queens Wharf Rd. — near Bathurst St. and Lake Shore Blvd. E. — around 10:20 p.m. and found victims suffering from gunshots wounds on multiple floors of the highrise condominium.
The bloodshed unfolded during a “social gathering at a rented Airbnb,” according to Chief Mark Saunders, who stopped by the scene overnight.
He confirmed three young men were shot dead and a fourth shooting victim was taken to hospital but is expected to survive.
A fifth victim suffered cuts, Saunders said.
Acting Det.-Sgt. Henri Marsman, of the Homicide Unit, spoke to reporters at the scene Saturday and confirmed the deceased victims are three men aged 19, 20 and 22.
He said the fourth shooting victim is a 20-year-old man and the fifth victim, who wasn’t shot, is a witness who is “cooperating with investigators.”
“My understanding is that they were all there for the party,” Marsman said of the victims.
The party was on the 32nd floor but Marsman wouldn’t say if the shooting happened inside the unit, in the hallway or elsewhere.
He did say police are not looking for suspects.
“Our investigation right now has led us to believe that we have the parties involved,” Marsman said, referring to the victims without elaborating.
According to the Toronto Sun, the triple murder marks the seventh, eighth and ninth killings in the city just one month into the new year.
“The shooting overnight is, as with others, is completely unacceptable,” Mayor John Tory said in statement released Saturday.
“The City’s community crisis response program has been mobilized to support the neighbourhood in the wake of this tragic incident. These latest gun murders will not stop my determination to work with our police and all governments to combat gun violence in our city.”
Allison Walker and David Olevson, who live and work in the area, told CBC they were shocked to hear about the shooting. The couple were in an Uber on the way to the area where it happened when they heard the news.
“It's shocking. It's obviously upsetting to hear that. You don't want to hear something like that. You would hope that it would be a safe area to live in,” Walker said.
Last year, 44 of the city’s 78 murder victims were killed by guns as Toronto endured a record high of 492 shootings and 771 shooting victims — up sharply from the 177 shootings and 242 shooting victims the city saw in 2014 before gun violence began to spike dramatically.
Have a travel related news story you want us to cover? Contact us
Follow us on Facebook below or all the latest travel news
Source: CBC/Toronto Sun