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Toronto, August 4
A shooting that started at a Toronto nightclub event hosted by rapper Drake, and then spilled onto the streets outside early on Tuesday, left at least two people dead and three others wounded, police said. It wasn't clear if Drake was present during the shooting.
Toronto Deputy Police Chief Peter Sloly said despite a large police presence outside the venue, shots were fired inside Muzik nightclub on the grounds of Exhibition Place. The shooting took place at approximately 3.30 am when the nightclub was shutting down.
“This was a brazen, large-scale, ongoing firearm incident where our officers and members of the public were directly in the line of fire," Sloly said. “We are very lucky that this is not a larger body count, quite frankly.”
Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash said no arrests have been made. It wasn’t immediately clear how many suspects there are, or what led to the shooting.
Police believe there could be more victims at other locations and urged citizens to contact authorities. Sloly said police fired no shots.
Superintendent Frank Bergen said the victims were a man and woman in their 20s and 30s. He said three people were hospitalised with various injuries. Sloly said the injuries are not life-threatening.
Sloly said there was at least one victim inside the club, then the shooting moved outside.
“Our officers were present when the initial shots went off. They were within meters of the initial shooting," he said. "Literally our officers were running toward live-fire incidents. The officer who found the female, now deceased, was seconds behind when she was shot and was able to, in her last breaths, provide CPR and do all he could to keep her alive.”
The nightclub was hosting the official OVO Fest after-party featuring Drake.
A similar incident occurred in front of Muzik last year when a 28-year-old man was shot after OVO Fest. — AP
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