1 dead, 2 injured in 'very brazen daytime shooting' at Fairview Mall parking garage

One person is dead and two others are injured after a "very brazen daytime shooting" in a parking garage at Fairview Mall on Monday, Toronto police say.

Duty Insp. Mike Hayles, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, said officerswere called to the mallshortly after 4 p.m. for a report of a shooting. The scene is a large commercial plaza at 1800 Sheppard AvenueEast, he said.

All three victims suffered gunshot wounds.

Police responded with Toronto paramedics, and when they arrived, they found two men in their 20ssuffering from gunshot wounds on the main floor ofaparking structure on the north side of the plaza.

Paramedics tended to the victims and took the pair to a local hospital, where they are receiving medical treatment. One victim has life-threateninginjuries, while the other has non-life-threatening injuries.

Hayles said athird victim, also a man in his 20s, wasdropped off by a personal vehicle ata trauma centre in the area. The manreceived medical treatment but has since been pronounced dead, he said.

"We do have sufficient information to lead us to believe that theindividual who was dropped off at hospitalwas present here at the scene during the interaction," he said.

Police are collecting video evidence and examining several vehicles at the mall. There is one vehicle in particular that police believe was usedin the shooting, he said.

Police have not ruled out whether the shooting is gang-related.

"We have a significant police response that is here now currently at the scene," Hayles told reporters.

Hayles appealed to anyone who witnessed the shooting to come forward to police.

Police's homicide squad has taken over the investigation, but Hayles said itis in its early stages.

People outside mallput at risk, police say

Hayles said there was never any threat to people inside the mall but there was a threat to people outside the mall in the area. He described the parking garageas "very busy" at that time of the day because people were coming and going about their business. There will be a heightened police presence over the coming days, he added.

"There were clearly people that were in the area outside when the shooting occurredand they were certainlyput at risk and that is very concerning to us."

Haylessaid several peoplefled the scene on foot and by vehicle and police are working to identify them. Police don't know which of them are people of interest or which of them were simply witnesses fleeing the scene.

"We don't have any suspect descriptions that are confirmed at this time, however, we do believe that suspects did flee the scene," hesaid.

"Our investigators are on scene working diligently to identify those persons, or person, that may have been responsible for this incident."

There was a "robust response" from mall security and security guards worked with police to secure the scene quickly, he added.

Haylessaid police would like to speak to anyone who has dashboard camera footage of Sheppard Avenue East and Highway 404 after 4 p.m. that may have capture vehicles leaving the parking lot.