Toronto Police investigate a mass shooting at the Piper Arms Pub near the Scarborough Town Centre in Toronto on March 8.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Toronto police said officers worked over the weekend to identify three suspects in a mass shooting inside a pub in the city’s east end on Friday night that left 12 people injured, in what police called “a brazen and reckless act of violence.”
Police said seven people were shot but none of the injuries were life-threatening. The other victims were injured by debris.
The incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. during the opening night of Piper Arms STC, a pub located on Progress Avenue, near the Scarborough Town Centre. Police said three masked suspects – one armed with an assault rifle and the other two with handguns – entered the pub and started shooting indiscriminately at patrons.
Police initially said six people were shot, but on Sunday confirmed that one additional injury, originally believed to have been caused by flying glass, was from a bullet graze. Police released no other updates about the case, but an e-mailed statement sent out by TPS spokespeople said the shooting remains “an active and complex investigation.”
“We want to assure everyone that officers are working non-stop to find those responsible, and we will provide updates as soon as we can,” the statement said.
One of the pub’s owners, Pathmakumar Pathmanathan, said he had wrapped up work in the pub’s kitchen and was speaking with a business partner who was dining with his family.
“Then suddenly I heard people screaming,” said the 43-year-old.
He said three men had entered through the front door and started firing, without warning. It sounded like fireworks, said Mr. Pathmanathan.
Police work the scene of a shooting that left 12 people injured, including seven with gunshot wounds, at the Piper Arms Pub in Scarborough.Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press
Mr. Pathmanathan and others ran to the basement to hide when the bullets started flying, he said. He took shelter in the electrical room, holding the unlockable door closed with his hand, turning off the lights and muting his cellphone.
“I pray to God – please don’t anybody die,” he said, adding that he saw a staff member and several patrons wounded and bleeding after the attack.
Mr. Pathmanathan pleaded with the authorities to capture the gunmen.
Superintendent Paul MacIntyre, the head of the Toronto Police Organized Crime Enforcement unit, told reporters hours after the shooting that it was only “by the grace of God” that there were no fatalities.
“I can tell you, this was a brazen and reckless act of violence that’s really shaken our community and the city itself,” he said.
Investigators have reviewed the restaurant’s security video, which captured the violent incident.
Supt. MacIntyre said the footage shows a calm before the panic. “People sitting down in booths, at tables with friends, drinks on the tables, food on the tables, people standing at the bar – and all of a sudden when the shooting happens, everybody … they’re ducking for cover or they’re falling on the floor as they’ve been struck.”
The deserted restaurant appears eerie in the aftermath, he said. “The drinks are still on the table. The food is still on the table. People’s purses, shoes are still in there.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow speaks to reporters after a mass shooting near Scarborough Town Centre in Toronto, on March 8.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Police say the gunmen fled in a car. No detailed descriptions or photos have been released to the public but authorities initially said a man in a black balaclava was seen leaving in a silver-coloured vehicle.
The shooting at the Piper Arms follows a string of violent incidents in the Greater Toronto Area.
“It is troubling because of the magnitude of the shootings and the number of people hurt, and I don’t want to speculate as to the why and how, I’ll leave that to the police,” said Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow.
“The shooting that took place last night in Scarborough was a brazen act of violence that will not be tolerated. The Toronto Police Service has my full support,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford posted on social media.
In a statement, Michael Thompson, city councillor for Scarborough Centre, asked citizens to come forward with any information that would help identify the perpetrators.
“We are blessed that this unconscionable act has not resulted in mass fatalities,” he was quoted as saying. “Now, we must assist police in removing the perpetrators off our streets and out of our neighbourhoods.”
Mr. Pathmanathan, the restaurant co-owner, said he has no insights as to why violence erupted during his restaurant’s opening night. All he knows, he said, is that when he came upstairs about 15 minutes after the shooting, he saw people in pain and in trauma.
“I came to the first floor. I saw many [wounded] people, like, two, three people, some of them bleeding,” Mr. Pathmanathan said.
“I’m very sad about that,” he said, describing himself as a refugee from Sri Lanka who fled the aftermath of the mid-2000s civil war. Years of work put him in a position to become a co-owner of the newest franchise for the Pipers Arms, he said.
Mr. Pathmanathan said the restaurant’s final permits were acquired Wednesday and the opening banners were hung up Thursday. He spent all day Friday preparing food for customers, who started coming through the restaurant’s doors around 11 a.m.
“We had good customers yesterday,” Mr. Pathamanathan said. He distinctly recalled the restaurant serving up fish and chips and a peameal-bacon sandwich to an elderly couple who were among the first customers.
“This is my first experience in my life, like the people coming with a gun,” he said. “We are living in Canada, peaceful country – right?”
With reports from Jana Pruden, Jacob Dubé and Tu Thanh Ha