Innocent bystander among victims in Muzik shooting

Two people are dead and three others are in hospital after a shooting at an OVO Fest after-party.

The violence began inside Muzik nightclub, at Exhibition Place, and spilled out onto the street around 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

“We heard ‘pop, pop, pop,’ and we seen everybody running,” a witness told 570 NEWS.

A woman and a man, both believed to be in their 20s, were killed, Toronto police confirmed. The man was found inside the club and the woman was found north of the Dufferin Gates.

Three other people are in hospital.

At least one of the people shot was an innocent bystander, police said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Police believe there may be more victims and are asking witnesses and victims to come forward.

“There are people who were at that venue … who have information that could help to solve this crime,” deputy police chief Peter Sloly said at the news conference.

Sloly said there was at least one victim inside the club itself.

“There may have been other victims [in the club] but we’re not clear at this time. We found another shooting victim south of the location and another shooting victim north of that location,” he said.

Sloly said two people have serious injuries, but there is no indication at this time that the injuries are life-threatening. One person has a “less serious” injury.

Police are asking that video or photos from inside the nightclub, at any time of the evening, be uploaded at bit.ly/TPSHomicide.

The nightclub was hosting the official OVO Fest after-party featuring Toronto rapper Drake. It is not known whether he was at the nightclub at the time of the shooting.

It was a “well-run event with lots of police officers around the area,” said police Supt. Frank Bergen.

“We’re satisfied at this point that the organization involved was doing their best and this did occur at approximately 3:30 a.m. as things were shutting down for the evening.”

Sloly said there was private security present inside the club as well.

“Despite a large [police] presence, armed offenders took out firearms and starting shooting inside the venue,” he said.

There was no immediate word on suspects or arrests, nor any information about what led to the gunfire.

Police are investigating three separate crime scenes.

Sloly said police officers were within metres of the initial shooting.

“Our officers were running towards live fire … the officer who found the female now deceased was seconds behind when she was shot, and was able to, in her last breath, provide CPR and do all he could to keep her alive,” he said.

“This was a brazen large-scale ongoing firearm incident where our officers [and] members of the public were directly in the line of fire. We’re very lucky this was not a larger body count.”

In a statement, Mayor John Tory said he was “both saddened and angered by these senseless shootings.”

He said his condolences were with the victims and the their families.

“This is not the Toronto we know. It is not the Toronto that has been a welcoming safe host for hundreds of thousands already this summer right up to and including this weekend … There is no place for [this] violent criminal behaviour in a city which prides itself on how we live together safely and peacefully.”

Toronto police have set up a website for anyone with information to upload images or video.

Almost exactly a year ago, there was another shooting at an OVO Fest after-party. The man survived.