Toronto shooting: Second person dies after gunman opens fire in Greektown

City has recently seen a spike in gun violence

(Getty)

Toronto police have revealed that a second victim has died following a mass shooting in the city’s Greektown neighbourhood.

A spokeswoman for the Onatario police’s watchdog, said a total of three people were now dead, among them the suspected shooter. The gunman's two victims were a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman.

Monica Hudon, a spokeswoman for the province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), did not immediately provide additional details. But police had earlier said one victim had died on Sunday night and that a young girl – perhaps aged no more than eight or nine – was in a critical condition.

The Associated Press said SIU had revealed the 29-year-old suspected shooter had been confronted close to the scene of the attack and exchanged fire with officers before he ran. It said he was found dead, three streets away.

It was not immediately clear whether the man killed himself or died of injuries after being shot by police, the AP said.

The Special Investigations Unit will determine how the man died and whether there was any police wrongdoing. The unit is automatically called in to investigate all deaths and serious injuries where police are involved.

A video of Sunday night’s incident showed a man dressed in black firing three shots from the sidewalk into at least one shop or restaurant. Witnesses said they heard 20 to 30 shots.

Police Chief Mark Saunders said terrorism had not been ruled out. Toronto police tweeted that the shooting occurred in the Danforth and Logan avenues area of the Greektown neighborhood, a busy residential area with restaurants and cafes.

Over the weekend, Toronto police had deployed dozens of additional officers to deal with a recent spike in gun violence in the city.

Witnesses said they heard many shots and described the suspect walking past restaurants and cafes and patios on both sides of the street and firing into them.

John Tulloch said he and his brother had just got out of their car when he heard about 20 to 30 gunshots. “We just ran. We saw people starting to run so we just ran,” he said.

Tanya Wilson was closing her tattoo shop on the street when a mother and a son ran in with gunshot wounds to their legs.

“They said they were walking and a man told them to get the hell out his way and he just shot them,” Ms Wilson told the AP.

She said she had tied and elevated their wounds and tried to keep them calm while they waited for paramedics. She locked the door and shut off the lights, not knowing what was happening outside.