A bloody incident has marred the large-scale Salsa on St. Clair street festival in Toronto. Two people were killed and three others were injured in a sudden shooting at the scene, world news agencies reported. The incident in the area of St. Clair Avenue West and Arlington Avenue was reported to police at 8:12 p.m. local time on Saturday (03:12 Bulgarian time on Sunday).
Emergency teams arriving at the scene found a total of five people with gunshot wounds. Two of them were pronounced dead at the scene, the news channel CP 24 reported. Information about the condition of the three hospitalized injured has not yet been officially reported.
Toronto police officers initially declared the situation an "active shooter" incident and urged citizens to immediately avoid the area, CNN reports. A little later, the police published a statement on social media that the place was secured by law enforcement and there were no reports of new injuries, but the increased police presence remains. The local transportation company TTC stopped trains at a nearby subway station for security reasons.
The annual Salsa on St. Clair festival is considered the largest Latin American cultural event in Canada and, according to organizers, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors over the weekend, the BBC notes. Witnesses to the shooting described a festive atmosphere with people dancing in the streets before the shots were fired, followed by mass panic. The investigation into the motives and the search for the perpetrator are ongoing, and police have not yet released a description of the perpetrator.