1 dead in shooting outside Yorkdale Mall

Posted March 30, 2013 9:01 pm.

This article is more than 5 years old.

One male is dead and second male has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after shots rang out in the jam-packed parking lot outside Yorkdale Mall Saturday evening.

It happened around 8 p.m. outside one of the entrances to the mall.

Homicide detective Rob North said an altercation began between two groups of people inside the mall and carried on outside into the parking lot.

It is believed the victim was shot in the head.

Police say they have spoken to a number of witnesses and early indications are that they are looking for five to six suspects.

The shooting brings back chilling memories of a brazen shooting at the Eaton Centre less than a year ago. That shooting, which took place in the food court on a busy June Saturday, left two people dead and several others wounded.

North said he could not say if this shooting was gang related but said no bystanders were injured.

Const. Wendy Drummond said “numerous” shots were fired in the incident that there is a high likelihood it was captured on one of the mall’s security cameras: “CCTV cameras are pretty much everywhere these days.”

Authorities taped off a section of Yorkdale parking lot while they investigate and spoke with all drivers as they left the parking garage, recording vehicle license plates.

Thousands of shoppers were inside the mall at the time of the shooting and were forced to remain indoors while police investigated.

While stores in the mall will be closed for Easter Sunday, the mall’s restaurants and movie theater are expected to be open.

Police are asking anyone whose vehicle was parked at Yorkdale and may have been damaged during the shooting to contact them.

[View the story “Twitter reaction after shooting in busy Yorkdale parking lot on March 30, 2013” on Storify]